22 August 2022
|
Makar's Court, Edinburgh Old Town
Celebrated Scots poet George Bruce, OBE, MA (1909-2002) is set to become the latest addition to Makars’ Court, where Scotland’s most esteemed writers have been celebrated since its establishment in 1998.
Located in Edinburgh's Old Town, Makar’s Court is described as the Scottish equivalent of Poet’s Corner at Westminster Abbey.
Bruce will join the lofty company of Sir Walter Scott, Rabbie Burns, Robert Louis Stevenson and others at Makars’ Court where he will have a memorial flagstone inscribed with his name and the line:
The sea trembles - voiceless
It is the rare moment
when a word is sought.
(from Pursuit. Poems 1986-1998. Haiku Envoi).
Hailing from Fraserburgh in the north-east of Scotland, Bruce’s poetry references his family’s seafaring heritage in the herring trade and his own upbringing on the North Sea coast.
In addition to his extensive work as a poet, Bruce worked as a BBC producer for over 20 years and on his retirement was appointed as the first Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow, alongside similar posts in the USA, and a Scottish Australian Writing Fellowship. In 2000, he received an honorary Doctorate from his alma mater, the University of Aberdeen, to add to another from Wooster College Ohio.
LOVE SCOTLAND'S HISTORY? TRY HISTORY SCOTLAND MAGAZINE
Councillor Val Walker, Culture and Communities Convener for the City of Edinburgh Council, said:“George Bruce’s addition to Makars’ Court reflects his indelible mark on Scottish poetry and he can now take up his rightful place alongside the finest literary figures in our nation’s rich writing tradition. Makars’ Court is a central fixture on the Old Town tourist trail and provides an opportunity for visitors and residents alike to explore the very best of Scotland’s writers. I would like to thank the sponsor of this flagstone David Bruce; this will be a moving and fitting tribute from a son to a father.”
