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George Mackay Brown

    October 17, 1921 – April 13, 1996

    George Mackay Brown, a poet, novelist, and dramatist, dedicated his life to living in and documenting the Orkney Isles. His work deeply explores the life, history, and traditions that shape Orkney's distinct cultural identity. A significant theme in his writing is the preservation of Orkney's heritage against the tide of modernity and the erosion of myth and ritual. Through his unique voice, Brown offers readers a profound connection to a landscape and history intrinsically linked to ancient rhythms and enduring stories.

    George Mackay Brown
    Simple Fire
    Portrait of Orkney
    Under Brinkie's Brae
    An Orkney Tapestry
    A Calendar of Love
    Letters from Hamnavoe
    • 2023

      From the early 1960s to the late 1980s, George Mackay Brown wrote new Christmas poems which were printed on cards sent to his close family or friends, or, as the years went on, he designed his own cards, commissioning art from friends and family and again including original verse compositions. This book reproduces all the known cards, the majority of which were found in the possession of his niece living in Stromness, George's home town throughout most of his life. They are a complete delight and will be a must for all of Mackay Brown's numerous and devoted followers. But they also open a door into this remarkable man's life which will have an appeal to an audience far beyond the shores of Orkney at Christmas time.

      Seasons Greetings From George
    • 2021
    • 2021

      In this, the first new selection of George Mackay Brown’s poetry for over 25 years, Kathleen Jamie explores the multi-faceted world of the poet’s Orkney, his lifelong home and inspiration. George Mackay Brown’s concerns were the ancestral world, the communalities of work, the fables and religious stories which he saw as underpinning mortal lives. Brown believed from the outset that poets had a social role and his true task was to fulfil that role. Art was sprung from the community, and his role as poet to know that community, to sing its stories.

      Carve the Runes
    • 2021

      An Orkney Tapestry

      • 256 pages
      • 9 hours of reading
      4.2(13)Add rating

      First published in 1969, An Orkney Tapestry, George Mackay Brown's seminal work, is a unique look at Orkney through the eye of a poet and a celebration of Orkney's people, language and history. Unavailable for many years, this new edition has a specially commissioned Introduction written by Kirsteen McCue and Linden Bicket.

      An Orkney Tapestry
    • 2020

      Christmas Stories

      • 196 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      Christmas Stories gathers together some of the previously unpublished winter themed and Christmas stories that Mackay Brown either published separately in newspapers, or included in limited edition book printings, together with some of his previously published stories. They all possess the extraordinary Orcadian voice that can only be be George Mackay Brown. They take the reader to another time, another universe, and will brighten any reader's Christmas season

      Christmas Stories
    • 2016

      Magnus

      • 232 pages
      • 9 hours of reading
      4.0(52)Add rating

      Zadumaně krásné Orkneje u břehů Skotska představují „ostrovy plovoucí k severu“ a jejich zneuctěný aristokrat ducha Magnus Erlendson se na nich konečně dočkal statutu svatého mučedníka a patrona. George Mackay Brown převyprávěl ságu o tomto středověkém šlechtici – mimo jiné figurujícím ve folkloru této výspy Evropy jako nemrtvý přízrak – s odvahou, jež se směle měří se zanícenými výkony dávných bardů s harfou. Zásluhou magického realismu čechraného skoupým slunkem, všudypřítomnou slanou vodou i úklady starými jako lidstvo samo zjišťujeme, že dvanácté století nebylo na Orknejích ani pod nadvládou Norů zdaleka pouze „temné“, neboť vše se tak jako tak vrací v kruzích a nad zbídačelým krajem znovu zavládne světlo. Vroucná báj o narození, prozření, smrti a zmrtvýchvstání krajana-mírotvorce vede k docenění rodné země: pravlasti dobra i všeho vnitřního utrpení, kterého hrouda pod našima nohama poznala daleko víc, než každý z nás v životě zjistí. George Mackay Brown převyprávěl ságu o středověkém šlechtici – mimo jiné figurujícím ve folkloru této výspy Evropy jako nemrtvý přízrak – s odvahou, jež se směle měří se zanícenými výkony dávných bardů s harfou.

      Magnus
    • 2012

      Six Lives of Fankle the Cat

      • 128 pages
      • 5 hours of reading
      3.8(19)Add rating

      Fankle tells Jenny the stories of his different lives with pirates, in ancient Egypt and even with the Empress of China.

      Six Lives of Fankle the Cat
    • 2003

      Under Brinkie's Brae

      • 192 pages
      • 7 hours of reading
      4.2(14)Add rating

      Light wear to the covers. Shipped from the UK in recyclable card packaging.

      Under Brinkie's Brae
    • 2002