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Norman MacCaig Biography

Norman MacCaig, Poet
Born asNorman Alexander MacCaig
Occup.Poet
FromScotland
BornNovember 14, 1910
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
DiedJanuary 23, 1996
Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
CauseHeart attack
Aged85 years
Norman MacCaig, a prominent poet hailing from Scotland, was born on November 14, 1910, in Edinburgh. He was raised in the city's historic area called The Royal Mile by his Gaelic-speaking mom, Joan, and his father, Andrew McCaig, a drug store, chemical designer and an ambitious poet. MacCaig's household respected their Gaelic and also Highland heritage, as well as he would certainly remain to demonstrate a deep connection to his roots throughout his life and also job.

MacCaig went to the Royal Senior high school before registering at the University of Edinburgh to research standards. Below, he found his interest for literary works and poetry. Upon finishing his degree in 1932, he embarked on a training occupation that would extend over three decades. Throughout his life, MacCaig handled between his profession as an educator and his interest for verse. He would at some point work as a key college teacher, a lecturer at the College of Education, and also as a going to teacher at American universities, consisting of the College of Stirling and the College of California. He played an important duty in shaping the minds of the trainees he showed and also inspired numerous aspiring artists at the same time.

MacCaig's poetic occupation started with the magazine of his first collection, 'Far Cry,' in 1943. This compilation, rooted in the Scottish literary renaissance activity, showcased the poet's keen observation of human experiences, a characteristic that would certainly become identified with his work. His very early poetry frequently explore various designs and influences, attracting ideas from the similarity T.S. Eliot and Ezra Extra Pound. Gradually, MacCaig shifted to a more lucid as well as profound style, garnering a reputation for his capability to transform common incidents as well as landscapes into remarkable masterpieces.

Norman MacCaig was an explorer, usually locating motivation in landscapes of the Scottish Highlands and the Assynt area, where he spent many summers. The beauty and poignancy of these places are often reflected in his rhymes, such as his famous jobs 'A Man in Assynt' (1969) as well as 'Ring of Bright Water' (1960). MacCaig also drew inspiration from the metropolitan landscapes of Edinburgh, as can be seen in his traditional rhyme 'Aunt Julia' (1960).

Throughout his career, Norman MacCaig gathered countless accolades and also honors for his job, including the respected Cholmondeley Honor in 1967, the Queen's Gold Medal for Verse in 1986, and the Scottish Arts Council Publication Honor in 1990 for his collection 'Voices, Places.' MacCaig was an intensely personal individual who chose the company of friends and family. He was known to have several acquaintances among fellow poets as well as writers such as Hugh MacDiarmid, Sorley MacLean, Edwin Morgan, and Iain Crichton Smith.

Norman MacCaig passed away on January 23, 1996, leaving behind a legacy of job that continues to reverberate with readers and also scholars alike. His poetry embodies an one-of-a-kind blend of personal reflections and social discourse, infused with his love for Scotland's landscapes and individuals. MacCaig's payments to the world of poetry have actually sealed his area as one of Scotland's literary greats.

Our collection contains 32 quotes who is written / told by Norman, under the main topic Nature.

Related authors: Hugh MacDiarmid (Poet)

Norman MacCaig Famous Works:
Source / external links:

32 Famous quotes by Norman MacCaig

Small: I dont care whether a book is a first edition or not. Im not a bibliophile in that words natural sense
"I don't care whether a book is a first edition or not. I'm not a bibliophile in that word's natural sense"
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Small: I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of mimicry
"I said I have no powers of invention. Well, I also have no powers of mimicry"
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Small: I never think about poetry except when Im writing it. I mean my poetry
"I never think about poetry except when I'm writing it. I mean my poetry"
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Small: And its impossible for me to read Henry James
"And it's impossible for me to read Henry James"
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Small: And in a way, thats been a help to me, because I take great passions for a particular poet - sometimes
"And in a way, that's been a help to me, because I take great passions for a particular poet - sometimes it lasts for many years, sometimes only for a while. This happens to everybody"
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Small: And if they havent got poetry in them, theres nothing you can do that will produce it
"And if they haven't got poetry in them, there's nothing you can do that will produce it"
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Small: All those authors there, most of whom of course Ive never met. Thats the poetry side, thats the prose s
"All those authors there, most of whom of course I've never met. That's the poetry side, that's the prose side, that's the fishing and miscellaneous behind me. You get an affection for books that you've enjoyed"
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Small: All I write about is whats happened to me and to people I know, and the better I know them, the more li
"All I write about is what's happened to me and to people I know, and the better I know them, the more likely they are to be written about"
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Small: A terrible thing about getting oldish is that your friends start dying, and in the last ten years I hav
"A terrible thing about getting oldish is that your friends start dying, and in the last ten years I have lost seven or eight of my closest"
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Small: When I go fishing I like to know that theres nobody within five miles of me
"When I go fishing I like to know that there's nobody within five miles of me"
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Small: Well, Im a light traveller. I chuck things away
"Well, I'm a light traveller. I chuck things away"
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Small: Well, I love fishing. I wouldnt kill a fly myself but Ive no hesitation in killing a fish. A lot of men
"Well, I love fishing. I wouldn't kill a fly myself but I've no hesitation in killing a fish. A lot of men are like that. No bother. Out you come. Thump. And that's not the only reason"
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Small: There are some friends you dont meet for twenty years and when you meet them again its as if no twenty
"There are some friends you don't meet for twenty years and when you meet them again it's as if no twenty years has happened - you're lucky when that happens. I feel the same about books"
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Small: People havent got the interest in long long works these days. A lack of interest which I share
"People haven't got the interest in long long works these days. A lack of interest which I share"
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Small: Its like breathing in and out to me. Its like having a conversation with someone who isnt there.
"It's like breathing in and out to me. It's like having a conversation with someone who isn't there. Because it has to be addressed to somebody - not a particular person, or very rarely"
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Small: In fact a lot of them I think are absolute baloney. Those Charles Olsens and people like that.
"In fact a lot of them I think are absolute baloney. Those Charles Olsens and people like that. At first I was interested in seeing what they were up to, what they were doing, why they were doing it. They never moved me in the way that one is moved by true poetry"
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Small: If I wrote a play with four characters every single one of them would talk like me regardless of age or
"If I wrote a play with four characters every single one of them would talk like me regardless of age or sex"
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Small: Im very gregarious, but I love being in the hills on my own
"I'm very gregarious, but I love being in the hills on my own"
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Small: I was very interested in American poetry for many years. Much less now
"I was very interested in American poetry for many years. Much less now"
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Small: I find its impossible for me to read Proust
"I find it's impossible for me to read Proust"
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Small: I dont think of myself all the time
"I don't think of myself all the time"
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Small: I only keep books that I like very much. Otherwise Id throw them out
"I only keep books that I like very much. Otherwise I'd throw them out"
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Small: When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you cant teach poetry. This is ridic
"When I was asked to be Writer in Residence at Edinburgh I thought, you can't teach poetry. This is ridiculous"
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Small: When I was a teacher, teachers would come into my classroom and admire my desk on which lay nothing wha
"When I was a teacher, teachers would come into my classroom and admire my desk on which lay nothing whatever, whereas theirs were heaped with papers and books"
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Small: I used to have a great love for Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, the big boys of the last century
"I used to have a great love for Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy, the big boys of the last century"
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Small: I used to fish the Border rivers, but nowadays you have to queue up for a shot and I cant stand that
"I used to fish the Border rivers, but nowadays you have to queue up for a shot and I can't stand that"
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Small: However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry in him or her
"However, I learned something. I thought that if the young person, the student, has poetry in him or her, to offer them help is like offering a propeller to a bird"
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Small: But youd have a job to find many of my poems which would seem to be very influenced by a particular per
"But you'd have a job to find many of my poems which would seem to be very influenced by a particular person"
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Small: But I hang on to books. I love them. I even think theyre very nice decor in a room - far better than pa
"But I hang on to books. I love them. I even think they're very nice decor in a room - far better than paintings... That's not quite true!"
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Small: Anybody who writes doesnt like to be misunderstood
"Anybody who writes doesn't like to be misunderstood"
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Small: And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didnt think so
"And the second question, can poetry be taught? I didn't think so"
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Small: And some poets are far better read off the page because theyre very bad speakers. Im thinking of one in
"And some poets are far better read off the page because they're very bad speakers. I'm thinking of one in particular whom I won't name, a good poet, and he reads in such a dry, boring way, your eyes start drooping"
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