Lewis Grassic Gibbon
Lewis Grassic Gibbon - A Famous Scottish Writer
Lewis Grassic Gibbon (1901 - 1935) was a Scottish writer. He was born James Leslie Mitchell in Auchterless, Aberdeenshire on the 13th February 1901. He spent his formative years living in the Howe of the Mearns and started work as a journalist for the Aberdeen Journal and the Scottish Farmer at age 16. In 1919 he joined the Royal Army Service Corps and in 1920 he enlisted in the Royal Air Force.
In 1925 he married Rebecca Middleton, who had been a neighbour and a schoolmate, and moved to Welwyn Garden City. In 1929 he became a professional writer. Over the next few years he wrote a number of books and other works using hi nom de plume, Lewis Grassic Gibbon and his real name James Leslie Mitchell. He was not recognised during his lifetime but only after his (premature) death on the 7th February 1935 from a perforated ulcer which led to peritonitis, just short of his 34th birthday.
The most critically acclaimed of his works are a trilogy "A Scots Quair" (1933) which included Sunset Song ( considered to be one of the defining works of the twentieth century Scottish Renaissance. The Sunset Song draws heavily on Gibbon's early life amongst the poor crofters of Aberdeenshire. In 1934 he published a number of short stories, together, called "Scottish Scene".
For further information: Visit the Lewis Grassic Gibbon Centre: http://www.grassicgibbon.com/ which was established in 1991 to commemorate his life. The centre is a community based and community run charity.
Back to