Norman MacCaig is one of Scotland's best-loved contemporary poets, admired for his startling metaphors and imagery, and for his illuminating wit. This is both an introduction to Norman MacCaig the poet and an analysis of the thematic and linguistic aspects of his work. Many of Britain's leading poets, scholars and writers, including Sorley MacLean, Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown and Roderick Watson, bring together their thoughts on MacCaig's poetry, placing him in the context of the changing cultural movements and attitudes of the last 30 years.
Introduction, Sorley MacLean; Poet's Pub - a personal tribute, George
Mackay Brown; Norman MacCaig - the History Man, Raymond Ross; MacCaig and
Gaeldom, John MacInnes; unmoved by the Movement - 50s MacCaig, Angus Calder;
"Birds all singing", Iain Crichton Smith; the metaphysical and classical
humours of Norman MacCaig, Joy Hendry; surroundings - the real MacCaig, Thom
Nairn; this trash of metaphor - on the poetry of Norman MacCaig, Joy Hendry;
MacCaig and people, Brian McCabe; the unlikely as usual, Nigel Forde; "...the
weight of joy...and the weight of sadness" - dilemmas of "noticing" in the
later poems, Roderick Watson; a metre of landscape, Valerie Gillies.
