Alasdair Maclean

Who is Alasdair Maclean?

Alasdair Maclean was a Scottish poet and writer. Born in Glasgow, he left school at 14 and took a variety of jobs, mostly as a labourer. He did National Service in India and Malaya, and lived for ten years in Canada. From 1966 to 1970 he attended Edinburgh University as a mature student, graduating with an M.A. in English.

He began to write poetry at the age of 20, but wrote only very sporadically until 1966. His first book of poems, From the Wilderness was the Poetry Book Society Choice for 1973. His autobiographical book Night Falls on Ardnamurchan weaves his own humorous and perceptive account of the crofting life, with extracts from his father’s journal.