Sunset Song – A 1932 novel by Scottish Writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon celebrates 90th year in 2022 since the first publication. A call for double celebrations as The Grassic Gibbon Centre and Café was opened in 1991 (31 years ago) to commemorate his life and work.

What better way to remember such an inspiring novel and his famous, most loved work when you can catch The BBC’s 1971 adaptation of the novel on television. A chance not to be missed as you can’t get it on DVD anymore.

Make a date : BBC4 Wednesday 31st August 2022 at 2200 hrs and Wednesday 7th September.

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Arbuthnott Village Hall

Saturday, May 14^th, 2022

7.pm for 7.30pm

Principal Speaker

Patrick Elliott 

Chief Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art 

National Galleries Scotland

Tickets: £25

To reserve tickets, please contact The Manager, Grassic Gibbon Centre, Arbuthnott

email: manager@grassicgibbon.com

phone: 01561 361 668

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It’s 90 years since Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Sunset Song was published – plus it’s the 30th anniversary of a centre dedicated to the Mearns novelist. Gayle pays a visit.

It’s an enduring classic, considered one of the most important Scottish novels of the 20th Century. Published in 1932 – 90 years ago – Sunset Song is the first part of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s trilogy, A Scots Quair.

Set in the Mearns in the fictional parish of Kinraddie – modelled closely on Arbuthnott, where the author grew up – it tells a beautiful, though often heartbreaking, story.

Crushing poverty, the hard toil of earning a living from the land, the sternness of religion, the oppressive reality of life for women, and the coming of modernisation to traditional farming are among the main themes.

When Sunset Song was first published, some readers were shocked by its treatment of sex and childbirth, and its sometimes negative portrayals of family life. Some even believed it had been written by a woman. But it was Grassic Gibbon who penned Sunset Song, three years before he died aged 33.

Born James Leslie Mitchell in 1901 in Auchterless, and raised from the age of seven in Arbuthnott, he used the pseudonym Lewis Grassic Gibbon for the first time when his masterpiece was published in 1932.

The Grassic Gibbon Centre in Arbuthnott is a great place to start if you’re keen to find out more about the author’s life and works – and enjoy cake and coffee while you’re at it.

It’s a bit off the beaten track in the heart of the rolling Mearns countryside near the farm where Grassic Gibbon grew up and the churchyard where his ashes were laid to rest.

An exhibition tells his story through photographs, agricultural artefacts, clothing, display cases and story boards.

I met up with the centre’s chairman Jim Brown for a tour and to gain a deeper insight into the novelist.

It’s 30 years since the centre opened in 1992, so it’s an exciting time, with plans for a festival themed around “Women in the Mearns” in August.

“Mitchell’s upbringing in this area had a profound influence on his writings in later life,” Jim told me.

“He really understood parish life, the hierarchy, the land, and he observed the hardship and drudgery of farming and working on a croft.

“There’s a phrase about a parish being like an egg. The shell cracked when Gibbon wrote the story and all the gossip, misdeeds, weaknesses and frailties came gushing out. It wasn’t just about this parish, though; it could’ve been written in any parish in Scotland, but Arbuthnott took it to heart.”

Browsing the exhibition is eye-opening and I found myself drawn to Grassic Gibbon’s brown overcoat, hanging in a display case. To think – he wore this actual garment in the 1920s and 30s and it’s still in great nick!

More surprises include dozens of his personal items including a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles, a pencil, compass and an Ingersoll watch.

Rare and valuable books, many of which belonged to Grassic Gibbon, farm implements, crockery and household utensils are also on display.

And there’s a reconstruction of a burial kist – a nod to the author’s interest in archaeology.

Once we’d had a good look around, we drove to St Ternan’s Church where his ashes lie, marked with a headstone. It’s a peaceful, serene spot, despite the fact the wind was howling and the rain battering down.

I couldn’t leave the area without sampling the food at the centre’s cafe and I warmed up with a delicious bowl of potato and leek soup, coffee and slab of millionaire shortbread.

While Grassic Gibbon is best known for Sunset Song, Jim is a fan of his short stories, which he believes are under-rated. His favourites are in a collection called Smeddum, which means “true grit” and “determination”.

Jim said the author’s education was “his walk to school”, from the croft of Bloomfield to Arbuthnott School.

“It’s thought he walked about 14,000 miles back and forth to school. It’s reckoned he was influenced by the farmer and the roadman he passed. He saw the farmer as more visionary, more cheery and global than his father.”

His headmaster, Alexander Gray, spotted the genius in him when, aged 12, he wrote a remarkable essay. Later attending Stonehaven’s Mackie Academy, he fell foul of staff, and wrote of their “gaping ignorance”.

By 16 he was a reporter with the Aberdeen Journal and in 1919 went to work for the Scottish Farmer in Glasgow. As a young revolutionary, he falsified his newspaper expenses to help finance the political cause. He was sacked and had a nervous breakdown.

He joined the Army, then the RAF, as a clerk, returning to Bloomfield in 1923, and marrying childhood sweetheart Rebecca Middleton.

Then came The Thirteenth Disciple and between its publication in 1931 and 1934, he produced 15 of his 17 books.

But it was Aberdeen journalist Cuthbert Graham who goaded him into writing the trilogy that made his name.

Graham had criticised a Mitchell novel, asking: “How will Mr Mitchell develop? It is to be hoped he will settle down to give us novels of the North-east.”

Mitchell responded: “One of these days I’ll write that North-east novel he talks about.” And he did exactly that within six weeks – and Sunset Song was published in August 1932.

By February 1935, he developed a perforated ulcer. Peritonitis set in and he was dead before his 34th birthday.

Yet his literary legacy of 17 volumes produced in his short life testify to his skill as historian, essayist, biographer and fiction writer.

• For more details see grassicgibbon.com or go to the Facebook page.
• A leaflet of walks to places connected with Grassic Gibbon is available from the centre.

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The Grassic Gibbon Centre Literary Lights Prize 2021: Judges’ Adjudication

 

This year the fifth annual Literary Lights Prize for Creative Writing, sponsored by the Grassic Gibbon Centre and held in conjunction with the University of Aberdeen, attracted a record volume of entries employing richly varied literary forms, encompassing non-fiction and fiction and deploying a vast range of settings of time and place, from past, present and future. Addressing the brief, tied in with the extraordinary concerns that we’re currently facing, to consider themes drawing their inspiration from some aspect or aspects of hope, endurance and fellowship, above all else the judges were reassured by the overwhelming sense of optimism and positivity engendered by the responses.

Finally the judges are proud to announce that the outstanding work, and the recipient of this year’s award, is the beautifully measured travelogue of a visit to Peru by Elisabeth Flett, ‘What I Did On My Summer Holidays’ marrying vivid observation and acute insight, and ultimately providing a heartening tribute to human kindness.

The judges also wish to make formal commendation for ‘The Weight of Our World’ by Jenna Fults, a lovingly crafted short story tracing the emblematic hope embodied by a family’s intimate recovery from bereavement set within the grand geological context of macrocosmic change. The sophistry and emotional power of Jenna’s piece are full testament to the emergence of a singular creative talent.

The prizewinning scripts from the Literary Lights competition, including those from 2021, are available now to download from the Grassic Gibbon Centre’s website, at www.grassicgibbon.com. 

Dr William K Malcolm

Literary Director, The Grassic Gibbon Centre

15/6/21

Dr William Malcolm, Literary Director of the Grassic Gibbon Centre and chair of the judging panel, has the highest praise for Elisabeth’s achievement, observing:

‘Elisabeth’s memoir has a compelling narrative voice that is sophisticated but amusing, humorous and thoughtful, ironic and optimistic. The conversational style is deceptively simple, while her bittersweet tone alternates smoothly between wry self-mockery and incisive pragmatism. The affirmative vision of human goodness is a tonic for this, or indeed any other time. The judges are confident that Elisabeth has the talent to go on to achieve great things as a writer.’

Elisabeth Flett is an award-winning musician, theatre maker and writer who is currently studying on the Elphinstone Institute MLitt course in Scottish Ethnology and Folklore. Winner of the 2017 Rose Lawrence academic award during her time studying at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Elisabeth has enjoyed writing in both an academic and creative capacity for many years. She is the creator of three successful solo folk theatre shows, including ROOTS (Edinburgh Fringe 2019), several of her comedic personal essays have been published on feminist art website ‘WHY Magazine’, and her poetry has been published in 2015’s ’10 of the Best: A Showcase of Poetry’ by United Press Ltd. and most recently in 2021’s Hysteria’s LGBTQ History Month zine, ‘Unsung’.

 

Read the Personal Essay!

A lifelong bibliophile and writer from Colorado, Jenna has just graduated with an English and Creative Writing degree. She has a penchant for reading more books at a time than she can keep up with and this past year, she held the role of President of the Creative Writing Society at the University of Aberdeen. Post-graduation, she looks forward to pursuing a career in the publishing industry and hopes to continue her passion for putting words down on a page by writing a novel (or two!). Her other hobbies include playing the cello and learning languages.

 

Read the Short Story!

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I was particularly impressed by the dramatic use of colour in the portraits as a whole, as well as by the sensitivity with which the individual pictures fitted the chosen quotations – which brought out what a vividly descriptive writer Gibbon is – especially of landscape.

Anyhow, while I loved the photographic entries, by Susan Robson, Janine Illian, Amy Anderson and Arlene Law (with that ‘lovely’ yellow whin blossom!), finally I’ve opted to select as overall winner:

(dramatic pause)

(even more dramatic pause)

• Blair Cunningham of Inverbervie for his insider’s impression of Bervie Bay. The sweep of the setting and the perfect ‘cobalt blue’ of the sky has absolutely nailed the quotation.  Great stuff, Blair!

I would also like to pick out:

(yet another dramatic pause)

• Laura Greig, aged 10, as a junior winner, for her detailed Mearns landscape, complete with grazing sheep – and I could almost hear the ‘click and spit’ of the tractor in the distance!

Many congratulations to all our entrants for giving such sympathetic responses to the writing of our own very favourite author!

Stay safe everybody – and keep up the artistry!

– Dr  Bill Malcolm, Literary Director, The Grassic Gibbon Centre     

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Lockdown Art Competition

Please find the lovely entries to our Lockdown Art Competition. We asked participants to submit artwork and photos that illustrate or were inspired by a quote from Scots Quair by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.

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Photo and Art Competition

“They’d the last of the light with them up there, and maybe they didn’t need it or heed it, you can do without the day if you’ve a lamp quiet-lighted and kind in your heart.” –Sunset Song

Painted by Katie Young, 2018, Arizona

Looking for inspiration? Need a project for your daily exercise? Looking to try out a new skill?

We invite you to submit original artwork or photos that are inspired by a quote from Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s Scots Quair (or his other works). The contest is open to everyone. We will post submissions as we get them on Facebook and will feature as many as possible on the website.

The Grand Prize is tea and cake for two at the Centre (once we can re-open); smaller prizes TBD.

Get creative! All types of submissions are welcome. Please email them or share them through Google Drive to emmarosemiller82@gmail.com. Include your name, your age if under 16, your town, and the quote!

Deadline: May 31st

By submitting, you authorize the Grassic Gibbon Centre to publish your image with your name on its website and facebook page.

TIME TO OPEN UP THOSE BOOKS!

Or check out the following PDFs for some of our favorites. We have included quotes to cover all sorts of lock-down situations!

Click Links Below for PDFs 

Nature Quotes PDF

People Quotes PDF

Town Quotes PDF

Imaginative Quotes PDF

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It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Jack Webster, the celebrated journalist, author and playwright who met and interviewed some of the greatest international names in sport and showbusiness including Muhammad Ali, George Best and Pele, Sophie Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Charlie Chaplin and Bing Crosby. He had many interests and occupations and wrote 18 books and in 1980 he wrote and appeared in an award- winning BBC documentary, Websters Roup, which followed his return to the family farm in Aberdeenshire after the death of his father. Selling of the farm and all its effects was difficult and emotional for him.

 He was hugely supportive of the Grassic Gibbon Centre and attended and spoke at many fundraising dinners including our inaugural Mearns Connections Festival  in 2009 when he shared the top billing with Richard Demarco, the Scottish artist and promotional entrepreneur. 

I quote from his Obituary, which appeared in the Scotsman on 25^th March 2020 written by his fellow Aberdeenshire journalist and good friend, Gordon Casely 

“Possessed of a singularly fluid writing style that could almost appear languorous, the reality for Jack was that his work was carefully crafted. 

He sought inspiration from Lewis Grassic Gibbon (James Leslie Mitchell), whose writings he first encountered in the 1950s while working in the very reporters’ room of the Press & Journal in Aberdeen which Mitchell himself had used a generation earlier. 

Jack wrote: “Reading Sunset Song not only opened my eyes to the true worth of rural life around me, but taught me more about the art of writing than any other influence”. 

As colleagues, he had Gibbon’s one-time associates, Cuthbert Graham, George Macdonald Sr and George Fraser. 

Jack came to know Mitchell’s widow Ray, brother John, children Rhea and Daryll, and not least Alexander Gray, the Arbuthnott dominie who first spotted Gibbon’s talent in 1913. 

All this created Jack’s desire to put the writer on stage “to speak for himself”. One autumn night in 2007 in Gibbon’s Kincardineshire village hall in Arbuthnott, it happened, with Vivien Heilbron as the Narrator and husband David Rintoul as the novelist. 

At the emotional conclusion, the audience rose in standing ovation, and when Jack was persuaded on stage, he stood there, tears running his face, confessing –This is the greatest moment of my life.”

At the Centre, we are proud that, at his Funeral in Glasgow, the words of Grassic Gibbon from Sunset Song were quoted on the front page of the  Order of Service.

“There were lovely things in the world, lovely that didn’t endure and the lovelier for that—Nothing endures.”

Jim Brown, Chairman.

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