Donald S Murray

My first love was the short story; my work widely published in the past in a large number of literary magazines and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and Radio Scotland. Over the last few years, I have had great success with my poetry – appearing in national anthologies such as the ‘Edinburgh Book Of Scottish Verse’ and national newspapers such as the ‘Herald’. I have also completed a non-fiction book for Birlinn about the gannet or guga hunters from my native Ness. I am also working on a collection of short stories that blend together Russian/ Hebridean themes. As such, my work is largely concerned with the people of the periphery, especially the Highlands and Islands. I trust, though, that it is also universal in both its appeal and application. People are the same wherever they are. The only differences exist in the margins. The proof of its attraction to these places in particular can be seen in the way I have delivered talks in Scotland’s most westerly island (St Kilda) in Scotland’s most north-western area (Ness); its most north-eastern area (Shetland); its most south-westerly corner (Gatehouse of Fleet, Dumfries and Galloway); and Ireland’s south-western edge (the Blasket Centre, Dunquin, County Kerry). I have also read my poetry and prose in Torshavn in the Faroe Islands and Iceland. Someday I hope to reach Cornwall and/or Berwick – and a few places in between!.