Andrew Greig

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Andrew Greig
Born (1951-09-23) 23 September 1951 (age 73)
Occupation
  • Poet
  • novelist
  • memoirist
NationalityBritish
Notable awards Eric Gregory Award (1972)
Scottish Book of the Year (2004)
Spouse Lesley Glaister
Website
andrew-greig.weebly.com

Andrew Greig (born 23 September 1951) is a Scottish poet and novelist whose work has been widely recognised. His work has spanned mountain climbing, the natural world, and historical fiction.

Contents

Biography

Greig was born in Bannockburn, near Stirling, and grew up there and in Anstruther, Fife. [1] He first wanted to be a singer-songwriter, travelling to London in search of a record deal and also supporting John Martyn whom he knew through one of his school teachers. [2] While still a teenager, having already started writing poetry, he shared some of his writing with the poet Norman MacCaig and travelled from Fife to meet him in Edinburgh. [3] MacCaig's influence on Greig's career would persist until his death in 1996 and beyond:

I'd never call myself an intimate friend of MacCaig, but he was a role model, a mentor. I liked him, he really mattered to me, and as the years went on after his death, I increasingly missed him and thought about him. [3]

After school, Greig took various temporary jobs while also writing. [2] He then studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh from 1971, graduating with an MA in 1975. [4] After university he worked for a short time in advertising before deciding to concentrate on writing poetry. [2]

Greig's writing led him to take up mountain climbing, but in 1987 he contracted ME/CFS, which brought that to an end. He continued writing during his illness and was recovered by 1997, [2] but in 1999 he was afflicted by a colloid cyst, from which he almost died. [3]

Greig is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow[ citation needed ]. He lives in Orkney and Edinburgh and has been married to author Lesley Glaister since 2000. [5] [2]

Writing career

Greig published his first book of poetry, White Boats, jointly with Catherine Czerkawska in 1973, while he was still a student. He had been awarded the Eric Gregory Award in the previous year. [4] His next volume, Men on Ice, was published in 1977. That marked Greig's first reference to mountain climbing, although he had not then actually climbed a mountain. [2]

In 1985, Greig published an account of the successful ascent of the Muztagh Tower in the Himalayas. Summit Fever: The Story of an Armchair Climber was shortlisted for the 1996 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. [6]

Awards and nominations

YearTitleAwardCategoryResultRef.
1972 Eric Gregory Award Won [7]
1992 Electric Brae: A Modern Romance McVitie's Prize for Scottish Writer of the YearShortlisted [8]
1996Summit Fever: The Story of an Armchair Climber Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature Shortlisted [9]
The Return of John MacNab Romantic Novelists' Association AwardShortlisted [8]
2004 In Another Light Scottish Book of the Year Award Won [10]
2014Fair Helen Walter Scott Prize Shortlisted [11]
2022Rose NicolsonShortlisted [12]

Published work

Poetry

Non-fiction and memoir

Fiction

Articles

References

  1. Rush, Christopher, "Elephants in Anstruther: In Search of the Scottish Identity", in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment 31, August 1983, pp. 43 - 48, ISSN   0140-0894
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Andrew Greig". Scottish Poetry Library. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 "Reeling in the years: Andrew Greig on Norman MacCaig". The Scotsman . 9 April 2010. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  4. 1 2 Macdonald, Kirsty (18 November 2008). "Andrew Greig" . The Literary Encyclopedia. London: The Literary Dictionary Company. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  5. "Lesley Glaister". www.umbrella2005.org.uk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2005. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  6. "Winning books, shortlisted books and other entries". Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  7. "Eric Gregory Past Winners". Society of Authors. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  8. 1 2 "Andrew Greig". Waterstone's . Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  9. "Winning books, shortlisted books and other entries". Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  10. "Saltire Society Literary Awards - Winning Books". BooksFromScotland.com. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  11. "Walter Scott Prize Shortlist 2014". Walter Scott Prize. 4 April 2014. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  12. "Shortlist spotlight – Andrew Greig". The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2025.

Further reading