The Correspondence Between Hugh MacDiarmid and Sorley MacLean : An Annotated Edition

A complete, annotated edition of MacDiarmid and MacLean's letters and a major exploration of their long friendship and literary association.

`The Correspondence Between Hugh MacDiarmid and Sorley MacLean, edited by Susan Wilson, offers a wealth of illuminating insights into these towering literary figures of the mid-twentieth century. We see the subtly developing relationship between the two poets. Noteworthy too is the interplay of nationalist and socialist ideals in the writings of these distinctive Scottish intellectuals. Most of all, the letters are alive with the energy and intimacy of the Scottish intellectuals. Most of all, the letters are alive with the energy and intimacy of the Scottish Renaissance. Dr Wilson''s introductory essay gives a full and accessible resume of the relevant of the relevant political and literary background to the period, and there are helpful notes identifying the characters and events we meet within this precious body of letters.'' William Gillies, Professor of Celtic, University of Edinburgh (1979-2009)

This is the first complete annotated edition of the letters exchanged over nearly fifty years by these major twentieth-century Scottish poets. The lively exchanges reflect the influence of cultural nationalism on each writer''s developing poetics, their work as translators, their literary collaboration, and their mutual influence on each other''s careers.

The introductory chapters chart the development of MacDiarmid and MacLean''s enduring friendship, discuss MacLean''s significant contributions to MacDiarmid''s Golden Treasury of Scottish Poetry, and situate MacLean''s literary innovations in terms of Gaelic modernism. A full biographical and historical introduction, bibliography and appendices complete the edition.