Pàdraig MacAoidh

‘S ann à Leòdhas a tha Pàdraig MacAoidh, agus chaidh dà leabhar bàrdachd leis fhoillseachadh le Acair. Ann an 2024 chaidh ainmeachadh Makar na h-Alba.

Peter Mackay is a poet, broadcaster, translator. He is a senior lecturer in the School of English at the University of St Andrews and in 2024 was appointed Scottish Makar.

Meg Bateman

Meg Bateman lectures at Sabhal Mor Ostaig in Skye, part of the University of the Highlands and Islands, where she teaches literature and philosophy through the medium of Gaelic. She learned Gaelic in South Uist and the University of Aberdeen where she taught for many years. She has translated,co-edited and contributed to multiple anthologies of Gaelic poetry. Her two collections, ‘Aotromachd / Lightness’ and ‘Soirbheas / Fair Wind’, both published by Polygon, were shortlisted for the Scottish Book of the Year award in 1997 and 2007.

Gerda Stevenson

Gerda Stevenson is an award-winning writer, actor (trained at R.A.D.A.), director, singer-songwriter, working in theatre, television, radio, film, and opera, throughout Britain and abroad. Her poetry, drama and prose have been widely published, staged, and broadcast. She has written extensively for for BBC Radio 4 ” original plays, as well as dramatisations of classic Scottish novels. Her theatre productions and literary festival readings include Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Trinidad, Italy, USA, UK and Ireland.

Rody Gorman

ody Gorman was born in Dublin in 1960 and lives in Skye. He has published collections of poetry in English, Irish and Scottish Gaelic including Fax (1996), Flora From Lusitania (2005) and Zonda? Khamsin? Sharaav? Camanchaca? (2006) and Beartan Briste/Burstbrokenshroudloomdeeds (2011). His most recent collections are Cuala, Dothra (2021), Lorg Eile/Final Call (2022) and Sa Chnoc (2023) which was awarded the Derick Thompson Poetry Prize 2024. His version of Buile Shuibhne, Sweeney: an Intertonguing was published by Francis Boutle Publishers in March 2024.

Joni Buchanan

Dr Joni Buchanan is a native of Mangersta in the Uig area of Lewis. She graduated in economic history from the University of Strathclyde and gained a PhD from the Universities of Aberdeen and the Highlands and Islands. Her doctoral thesis, From Gàidhealtachd Community to Shared Space, followed the transition within her own home community over the post-war era and identified measures necessary for retaining population and maintaining the Gaelic language. Dr Buchanan worked as a researcher and writer and is the author of The Lewis Land Struggle.

Shelagh Chaimbeul

Shelagh Chaimbeul is from Glasgow and writes fiction for adults and children in Gaelic. She was selected as the Scottish Book Trust’s Gaelic New Writer Awardee for 2022. She won Gaelic Literature Awards for Best Unpublished Manuscript for Children in 2020 and 2023 and for Best Fiction Book in 2024. Her first novel, Far na Slighe, was published by Luath Press in 2024. Shelagh Campbell 2023 – © Julie Broadfoot – www.juliebee.co.uk

Hamish MacDonald

Hamish MacDonald is a writer and performer based in the Scottish Highlands. He was the first Robert Burns Writing Fellow and also the First Scots Scriever at the National Library of Scotland. Published works include ‘The Gravy Star’ (11:9 Publishing), ‘The Girnin Gates’, and poems, shorts stories and translations for Itchy Coo publications His last poetry collection is ‘Wilson’s Ornithology & Burds in Scots’ (Scotland Street Press) As performance poet Hamish was Scottish Slam Poetry champion in 2022 and runner-up at the Coupe du Monde poetry Slam, Paris in the same year, reaching the semi final stages of the 2023 World Poetry Slam in Rio de Janeiro.

Anne Martin 

Anne Martin, also known as Anna Mhartainn is a Gaelic singer from the Isle of Skye whose performances explore and celebrate her cultural heritage through music. She has performed internationally in Ireland, Australia and India as well as in Scotland, her native country. Her recent induction into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame recognises not just her artistic achievements, but her role in maintaining and evolving the living tradition of Gaelic song.