Alexander Scott (1920–1989) was a Scottish poet, playwright and scholar born in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He wrote poetry in both Scots and

Scottish English Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...

as well as plays, literary reviews and critical studies of literature. As a writer, scholar, dramatist, broadcaster, critic and editor, he showed a life-long commitment to Scottish literary culture. He was latterly a tutor and reader of Scottish literature at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, where he was instrumental in establishing Scotland's first Department of

Scottish Literature Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by List of Scottish writers, Scottish writers. It includes works in Scottish English, English, Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic, Scots language, Scots, Brythonic languages, Bryth ...

in the academic year 1971–72. In 1972, Scott was one of the founders of the Lallans Society (later the

Scots Language Society The Scots Language Society, or Scots Leid Associe, also formerly known as the Lallans Society, is a body that works for the promotion of the Scots language "in literature, drama, the media, education and everyday use". It was founded in 1972 and ...

). He was a member of its committee from the outset and served as Preses from 1974 to 1977 and from 1979 to 1983. He also served as president of the

Association for Scottish Literary Studies The Association for Scottish Literary Studies (ASLS) is a Scottish educational charitable organization, charity, founded in 1970 to promote and support the teaching, study and writing of Scottish literature. Its founding members included the Sco ...

from 1976 to 1979. In 1985 he succeeded

Robert McLellan Robert McLellan OBE (1907–1985) was a Scottish renaissance dramatist, writer and poet and a leading figure in the twentieth century movement to recover Scotland’s distinctive theatrical traditions. He found popular success with plays and ...

as Honorary Preses.Purves, David, ''Obituary: Alexander Scott'', in ''Lallans'' Nummer 33, Mairtinmas 1989, p. 32, In 1983, Scott became a founding editor of the periodical '' New Writing Scotland''.

Works

Books

*''Selected Poems'', Saltire Modern Poets series, Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh, 1950 *''Still Life:

William Soutar William Soutar (28 April 1898 – 15 October 1943) was a Scottish poet and diarist who wrote in English and in Braid Scots. He is known best for his epigrams. Life and works William Soutar was born on 28 April 1898 on South Inch Terrace in P ...

, 1898 - 1943'', Chambers, 1958 *''The MacDiarmid Makars, 1923 - 1972'', Akros Publications, 1972 *''Double Agent: Poems in English and Scots'', Akros Publications, 1972 *'' Neil M. Gunn: The Man and the Writer'' (contributing editor), Blackwood, Edinburgh, 1973, *''Selected Poems, 1943 - 1974'', Akros Publications, 1975 *''Modern Scots Verse 1922 - 1977'' (Editor), Akros Publications, 1978 *''Scotch Passion: An Anthology of Scottish Erotic Poetry'' (Editor), Robert Hale, 1982 *''Voices of Our Kind: An Anthology of Modern Scottish Poetry from 1920 to the Present'' (Editor), Larousse Kingfisher Chambers, 1987 *''The Comic Poems of William Tennant'' (Editor), Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 1989 *''Sing Frae the Hert: The Literary Criticism of Alexander Scott'' (edited by Neil R. MacCallum), Scottish Cultural Press, 1996,

Articles

*'' Edwin Morgan: Experimenter Extraordinary'', in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), ''The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment'' 28, November 1982, pp. 22 – 26, *''Pink Elephants in

Anstruther Anstruther ( sco, Ainster or Enster ; gd, Ànsruthair) is a small coastal resort town in Fife, Scotland, situated on the north-shore of the Firth of Forth and south-southeast of St Andrews. The town comprises two settlements, Anstruther ...

: Scottish Identity'', in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), ''The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment'' 33, February 1984, pp. 3 – 8,

Reviews

* Campbell, Ian (1975), review of ''Selected Poems, 1943 - 1974'', in Burnett, Ray (ed.), ''Calgacus'' No. 3, Spring 1976, pp. 54 – 56,

References

External links

International journal of Scottish literature
review of David Robb's biography of Alexander Scott.
J Derrick McClure
online biography of Alexander Scott {{DEFAULTSORT:Scott, Alexander 1920 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Scottish poets Scottish male poets 20th-century British male writers