A Flame in the Mearns

LEWIS GRASSIC GIBBON (1901-1935) is one of the best known of early twentieth-century Scottish writers. Born James Leslie Mitchell, he grew up in the Mearns area of north-east Scotland, a landscape and farming life he recreated vividly in Sunset Song, the first book of his Scots Quair trilogy, published in 1932. A favourite for all ages, Gibbon's work is studied by students at all levels. A Flame in the Mearns is a unique collection of scholarly discussion and criticism and will be of interest to senior school pupils, college and university students, academics and lovers of literature. This new collection of essays celebrates Gibbon's achievement in his own time while emphasising his continuing relevance today - particularly the strong depiction of women in his fiction and his innovative narrative style which anticipates the work of writers such as Kelman and Welsh. This relationship with contemporary writers is most noticeable in the urban setting and political context of Grey Granite, while Sunset Song, with its engaging heroine Chris Guthrie, regularly appears in listings of the most popular Scottish novels. A Flame in the Mearns contains discussions of Gibbon's fiction, essays and little-known poetry, together with analyses of his language and politics. It is essential for all students and existing admirers as well as new readers of this important Scottish writer.