Na Sgeulachdan Gàidhlig

Scottish Gaelic Texts Society, 2023. 678 pages. Hardback.

Iain Mac a’ Ghobhainn (1928-98), known in English as Iain Crichton Smith belonged to Pabail Uarach (Upper Bayble) in the Isle of Lewis. He was a prolific writer of great renown for poetry, prose and drama in both Gaelic and English. Iain MacDhòmhnaill and Moray Watson have gathered together here, for the first time, Mac a’ Ghobhainn’s Gaelic-language short stories. This is no mean feat given that the 116 short stories appeared in all sorts of different publications such as newspapers, periodicals and short collections over the span of 40 years. The first short story appeared in print in 1953 and the last in 1992. This new collection allows easy access to Mac a’ Ghobhainn’s Gaelic short stories in a way not hitherto possible. The work of the editors in bringing together the collection will allow for more complete literary criticism of Mac a’ Ghobhainn’s output in both languages. This is a rich resource. The editors have presented us with the short stories in thematic order. This reinforces the major topics and themes which fired Mac a’ Ghobhainn’s imagination. We see, in these short stories, Mac a’ Ghobhainn’s talent for mixing wit and pathos and a whole host of other emotions. Mac a’ Ghobhainn invited his readers to contemplate the nature of humankind in writing that was concise and attractive.