‘He means poetry to me’
Seamus Heaney
Praise indeed. And, I can’t disagree with auld Seamus. The Poems of Norman MacCaig is a book I come back to over and over again. There’s a comfort in his words that helps when the world gets too noisy. That’s not to infer simplicity, far from it, but his words feel alive and fresh, even when focused on the unfamiliar and as I say in the video, I think he is unparalleled when it comes to writing landscape. In the most human of ways.
His work focuses on Edinburgh, and Assynt in the North West Scottish Highlands, and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve never been to the latter, but I have friends who are evangelical about it and it seems to thrum with an ancient magic that seeps into bones. My interest in MacCaig was re-sparked recently when I had friends in the Assynt area - Ruaidhri and Helen climbing, and Marieke with a band of absolute units from North Wales cycling the North Coast 500. They were sharing stories and images and I was digging into poems to try and understand and to feel. It worked and to this day that’s how I read Norman MacCaig - I dip in when I need to duck out and he’s ever-reliable when the big thoughts start to swirl.
Find out more and grab a copy here - The Poems of Norman MacCaig
Share this post