Lollie Graham

Laurence I. "Lollie" Graham (1924–2008) was a Scottish poet and author Born in Stromfirth, Shetland, in 1924. The Graham family moved to one of the new croft holdings at

Veensgarth Veensgarth ( non, Vikingsgarðr, Viking farm, or ''Vingarðr'', Meadow Farm), is a village in the Tingwall valley west of Lerwick on Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not includ ...

, Tingwall and Graham lived there until he died. He had been a part-time

crofter A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer, especially in rural area ...

most of his life, and active in local politics. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Graham studied at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and

Moray House College The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

, during which time he was active in literary circles and co-edited a volume of Scottish student verse. He returned to Shetland to take up a teaching post and taught at the Anderson Educational Institute and the

Scalloway Scalloway ( non, Skálavágr, "bay with the large house(s)") is the largest settlement on the west coast of the Mainland, the largest island of the Shetland Islands, Scotland. The village had a population of roughly 900, at the 2011 census. No ...

Junior High School. He was also headmaster at Urafirth Primary School and latterly the long-term and much loved headmaster of Gott Primary School. He contributed biographical sketches to the important textbook '' The Shetland Book'' (1967), edited by Andrew T. Cluness. Graham provided an introduction and a commentary to ''Shetland Poetry - a recital'' in 1950, arranged by himself, his brother John J. Graham, and T. A. Robertson (

Vagaland Vagaland (6 March 1909 – 30 December 1973), was a Scottish poet from Shetland. Biography Born Thomas Alexander Robertson at Westerwick at the southern tip of the parish of Sandsting, his mother's home. He was the second son of Andrina Joh ...

), with assistance from A. T. Cluness in selecting the poems. The text included a translation into Danish by Martin Melsted of an article by William J. Tait on Shetland language and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. He was Joint Editor of ''

The New Shetlander ''The New Shetlander'' is Scotland's longest-running literary magazine, founded in 1947, and edited originally by Peter Jamieson. Since 1956 it has been published by Shetland Council of Social Service and its successor Voluntary Action Shetland. I ...

'' from 1956 till 1988 along with his brother, the novelist John J. Graham. He was editor of ''Shetland Crofters'' (1986), co-editor with Brian Smith of ''MacDiarmid in Shetland'', a fine collection of essays on

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid (), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish Rena ...

published to coincide with the centenary of the birth of this eminent

Whalsay Whalsay ( sco, Whalsa; non, Hvalsey or ''Hvals-øy'', meaning 'Whale Island') is the sixth largest of the Shetland Islands in the north of Scotland. Geography Whalsay, also known as "The Bonnie Isle", is a peat-covered island in the Shetland I ...

resident in 1992, Hjaltland (1993), and '' A Shetland Anthology'' (1998). In 2000, the Shetland Library published his selected poems in '' Love's Laebrack Sang'', a volume which demonstrates Graham as both a committed political poet, engaged in making response to the public events of the day via satire, and a Shetland poet with a deep love of his community and its history. Lollie Graham's oldest daughter is the artist Ruth Graham. {{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Laurence People from Shetland 1924 births 2008 deaths Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Scottish schoolteachers Scottish biographers Scottish non-fiction writers Shetland writers Scottish critics 20th-century Scottish poets Scottish male poets 20th-century biographers 20th-century British male writers Male biographers