Simple Fire

George Mackay Brown wrote fiction with the humility and creative latitude of someone who was never completely certain that the form was up to the job. He wrote fiction that, in its rhythms, in its taut, glinting language, aspired towards poetry. He wrote fiction that, again and again, kindled that 'simple fire' on the page.One of Scotland's greatest writers, George Mackay Brown (1921–1996) produced a steady stream of fiction throughout his career. Inimitable in style, his story collections include

A Calendar of Love (1967),

A Time to Keep (1969) and

Hawkfall (1974). In this selection, edited and introduced by Malachy Tallack, Mackay Brown's beloved Orkney is illuminated within his words. The voices of the islands' people and communities, its rhythms and harmonies through time, resound.