Tuesday, August 24, 2010

News at Eleven: Edwin Morgan, who has died aged 90,

was the last of a group of great Scottish poets, spanning two generations, sometimes referred to as "the seven poets". His colleagues were Norman MacCaig, Iain Crichton Smith, Sorley MacLean, George Mackay Brown, Robert Garioch and Hugh MacDiarmid. The distinctive feature of this purely literary grouping (some individual members openly disliked others) was its astonishing variety. MacDiarmid is rightly cited as the sun around which the lesser planets revolved, and MacCaig commands a special affection on account of his wit and geniality, but Morgan was unrivalled in his formal invention, linguistic resourcefulness and--not the least of his qualities--his sense of fun. To read a book such as The Second Life (1968) was like going out to play.

from The Guardian: Edwin Morgan obituary
also BBC News: Edwin Morgan R.I.P
also The Herald: 'Edwin dreamed lines of poetry until the very end'
also Poetry & Poets in Rags: Poetic Obituaries (below): [Edwin] Morgan, never easily categorisable, displayed

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