Donald S Murray
A son of the Hebrides, Donald S Murray is a writer and poet whose first novel, As the Women Lay Dreaming, won the Paul Torday Memorial Prize in 2020, as well as being shortlisted for a host of other literary awards. Like his first novel, his second, In a Veil of Mist, is set in the Isle of Lewis and centred on historical events of the 20th century. In a Veil of Mist was shortlisted for the Highland Book Prize. Donald’s previous books have been shortlisted for both the Saltire Literary Awards and the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award. His critically acclaimed non-fiction books bring to life the culture and nature of the Scottish islands, and he appears regularly on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland. He is also the writer of The Man who Talks to Birds, a collection of poetry published in 2020.
His latest novel, The Call of the Cormorant, is an ‘unreliable biography’ of Karl Kjerúlf Einarsson: an artist and an adventurer, a charlatan and a swindler, forever in search of Atlantis.
The Man Who Talks To Birds
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Donald S Murray is widely commended for his empathy and ability to convey emotion with restraint and poignancy. In this short collection of poems written during lockdown at his Shetland home, Murray explores the changing realities of the island and how he, in turn, has been changed.
On his daily walks through the village, Murray finds himself noting shifts in the wind and weather, the imperceptible widening of the sea, and the way time has slowed – recognising, too, the patterns of flight and migration around Shetland.
With beautiful imagery and lyricism, The Man Who Talks to Birds taps into a deep connection with nature, and its ability to ground us – something many of us have rediscovered during our troubled recent times.