Andrew Greig
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Andrew Greig (born 23 September 1951) is a Scottish poet and novelist whose work has been widely recognised. His work has spanned mountain climbing, the natural world, and historical fiction.
Biography
Greig was born in Bannockburn, near Stirling, and grew up there and in Anstruther, Fife. He first wanted to be a singer-songwriter, travelling to London in search of a record deal and also supporting John Martyn whom he knew through one of his school teachers. While still a teenager, having already started writing poetry, he shared some of his writing with the poet Norman MacCaig and travelled from Fife to meet him in Edinburgh. MacCaig's influence on Greig's career would persist until his death in 1996 and beyond:
I'd never call myself an intimate friend of MacCaig, but he was a role model, a mentor. I liked him, he really mattered to me, and as the years went on after his death, I increasingly missed him and thought about him.
After school, Greig took various temporary jobs while also writing. He then studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh from 1971, graduating with an MA in 1975. After university he worked for a short time in advertising before deciding to concentrate on writing poetry.
Greig's writing led him to take up mountain climbing, but in 1987 he contracted ME/CFS, which brought that to an end. He continued writing during his illness and was recovered by 1997, but in 1999 he was afflicted by a colloid cyst, from which he almost died.
Greig is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow[citation needed]. He lives in Orkney and Edinburgh and has been married to author Lesley Glaister since 2000.
Writing career
Greig published his first book of poetry, White Boats, jointly with Catherine Czerkawska in 1973, while he was still a student. He had been awarded the Eric Gregory Award in the previous year. His next volume, Men on Ice, was published in 1977. That marked Greig's first reference to mountain climbing, although he had not then actually climbed a mountain.
In 1985, Greig published an account of the successful ascent of the Muztagh Tower in the Himalayas. Summit Fever: The Story of an Armchair Climber was shortlisted for the 1996 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Title | Award | Category | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | — | Eric Gregory Award | — | Won | |
| 1992 | Electric Brae: A Modern Romance | McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year | — | Shortlisted | |
| 1996 | Summit Fever: The Story of an Armchair Climber | Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature | — | Shortlisted | |
| The Return of John MacNab | Romantic Novelists' Association Award | — | Shortlisted | ||
| 2004 | In Another Light | Scottish Book of the Year Award | — | Won | |
| 2014 | Fair Helen | Walter Scott Prize | — | Shortlisted | |
| 2022 | Rose Nicolson | — | Shortlisted |
Published work
Poetry
- Greig, Andrew; Czerkawska, Catherine (1973). White Boats. Edinburgh: Garret Arts.
- —— (1977). Men on Ice. Edinburgh: Canongate Publishing. ISBN0903937174.
- —— (1982). Surviving Passages. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN0862410258.
- Greig, Andrew; Jamie, Kathleen (1986). A Flame in your Heart. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books. ISBN1852240172.
- —— (1990). The Order of the Day. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN1852241020.
- —— (1994). Western Swing. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN185224268X.
- —— (2001). Into You. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN1852245557.
- —— (2006). This Life, This Life: New & Selected Poems 1970 - 2006. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN978-1852247133.
- —— (2011). Getting Higher: The Complete Mountain Poems. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN978-1846971921.
- —— (2011). As Though We Were Flying. Tarset: Bloodaxe. ISBN978-1852249168.
- —— (2013). Found at Sea. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN9781846972690.
- Butlin, Ron; Greig, Andrew; Lochhead, Liz; McCabe, Brian (2020). Horns & Wings & Stabiliser Things: The Lost Poets. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN978-1846975554.
Non-fiction and memoir
- —— (1985). Summit Fever: The Story of an Armchair Climber. London: Hutchinson. ISBN0091620600.
- —— (1986). Kingdoms of Experience: Everest, the Unclimbed Ridge. London: Hutchinson. ISBN009165890X.
- —— (2006). Preferred Lies: A Journey to the Heart of Scottish Golf. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN978-0297848356.
- —— (2010). At the Loch of the Green Corrie. London: Quercus. ISBN978-1847249968.
- Heron, Mike; Greig, Andrew (2017). You Know What You Could Be: Tuning into the 1960s. London: Quercus. ISBN978-1784293000.
Fiction
- —— (1992). Electric Brae: A Modern Romance. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN0862414040.
- —— (1996). The Return of John MacNab. London: Headline Review. ISBN0747217041.
- —— (1999). When They Lay Bare. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN057119687X.
- —— (2000). That Summer. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN0571204236. (Published in some markets as The Clouds Above: A Novel of Love and War.)
- —— (2004). In Another Light. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN029784878X.
- —— (2008). Romanno Bridge. London: Quercus. ISBN978-1847243157.
- —— (2013). Fair Helen. London: Quercus. ISBN9780857381910.
- —— (2021). Rose Nicolson. London: Quercus. ISBN9781784292980.
Articles
- —— (November 1983), "A White Elephant in Anstruther", in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment 32
External links
Further reading
- Rush, Christopher (August 1983), "Elephants in Anstruther: In Search of the Scottish Identity", in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment 31, pp.43–48
- Scott, Alexander (February 1984), "Pink Elephants in Anstruther: Scottish Identity", in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment 33, pp.3–8
- Corbett, John (2004), "The Stalking Cure: John Buchan, Andrew Greig and John Macnab", Scot Lit, vol.30, Association for Scottish Literary Studies, ISSN