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Title
Iain Crichton Smith (1928–1998)
Date
2001–2002
Medium
bronze & concrete
Measurements
H 150 x W 30 x D 32 cm (E)
Accession number
EH12_GB_S004
Acquisition method
New Edinburgh Limited
Work type
Bust
Owner
Edinburgh Park
Custodian
Edinburgh Park
Work status
extant
Access
at all times
Inscription description
Iain Crichton Smith / Iain Crichton Smith: born Glasgow, 1928; / died Taynauilt, 1988. Brought up on the / Isle of Lewis, Crichton Smith spent most / of his working life as a school teacher, in / Clydebank then Oban. He wrote prose and / poetry in both Gaelic and English. The / long poem Am Faigh a Ghaidhlig Eas? / Shall gaelic Die? meditates on the fate of / that language and culture. Often a deeply / troubled man, and a self-deprecating / writer, he could move an audience to tears / of laughter with his 'Murdo' stories. / Consider the Lilies, about the Highland / Clearances, is a classic novel, but he considered himself more naturally a poet. / Crichton Smith wrote poems of lyrical / candour and great human understanding. / As well as poems that speculated on the / course and meaning of human existence. / He was a much loved man and poet, / and some of his poems in English and Gaelic / have become touchstones for Scottish literature.