MacNeacail in 2012
MacNeacail in 2012
BornAngus Nicolson
7 June 1942
Uig, Isle of Skye
Died19 December 2022(2022-12-19) (aged 80)
Pen name"Aonghas dubh"
OccupationWriter

Aonghas MacNeacail (7 June 1942 – 19 December 2022), nickname "Aonghas dubh" or "Black Angus", was a contemporary writer in the Scottish Gaelic language.

Early life

MacNeacail was born in Uig on the Isle of Skye on 7 June 1942.[1] He was raised in Idrigil, speaking Gaelic as a child.[2] He was registered at birth as Angus Nicolson, but later changed his official name to "Aonghas MacNeacail," the Scottish Gaelic version of his name. He attended Uig Primary School and Portree High School, and from 1968 the University of Glasgow[2] where he was one of a group of young writers who gathered around Philip Hobsbaum which also included James Kelman, Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray, Liz Lochhead and Jeff Torrington.

Career

Besides drawing on Gaelic traditions, MacNeacail was influenced by the Black Mountain School of the United States. He held writing fellowships in Scotland, including residences at the Gaelic college of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and read his work at festivals around the world. He collaborated with musicians and visual artists, and written drama. His poetry has been widely published throughout the English speaking world in journals such as Ploughshares, Poetry Australia, World Poetry Almanac, and JuxtaProse Literary Magazine. He also received wide recognition and critical acclaim for his screenwriting and songwriting.

MacNeacail won the Stakis Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year with his third collection, Oideachadh Ceart ("A Proper Schooling and other poems"), in 1997. His collection Laoidh an Donais òig ("Hymn to a Young Demon") was published by Polygon in 2007. He was the partner of the actor and writer Gerda Stevenson.[3]

Death

MacNeacail died in December 2022, at the age of 80.[4][5]

References

  1. ↑ "Aonghas MacNeacail (b. 1942)". Scottish Poetry Library. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  2. 1 2 Mackay, Peter (9 June 2012). "'Black Angus' At 70". Scottish Review of Books. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "BBC biography - Làrach nam Bàrd". BBC Alba (in Scottish Gaelic). Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  4. ↑ "Luaidh ga dhèanamh air Aonghas Dubh MacNeacail" (in Scottish Gaelic). BBC News. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  5. ↑ Wilson, Brian (17 January 2023). "Aonghas MacNeacail obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 January 2023.


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