A native Gaelic speaker from the isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides has been appointed as Scotland’s new Makar, its national poet. Academic, writer and broadcaster Peter Mackay [Pàdraig MacAoidh] is the fifth person to hold the role since it was established by the Scottish Parliament in 2004, following in the footsteps of Kathleen Jamie, Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, and Edwin Morgan.

Peter Mackay is an academic, writer and broadcaster whose work is influenced by the diverse linguistic heritage of his birthplace. He has an MA from Glasgow University and a PhD from Trinity College Dublin, and has worked at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry, Queen’s University Belfast, and at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, where he was writer in residence. He has also worked as a journalist and television news producer for the BBC. He lectures on literature at the University of St Andrews.

The Guardian reported that, at the age of 45, he is the youngest makar to date, and the first one who writes primarily in Gaelic. He was “flabbergasted and delighted” by the honour, but also “slightly bemused,” he said. “There are so many other great, distinctive voices who could do this role and who will go on to do it in future,” he says. “It’s a huge honour, especially considering those who have come before me.”

Mackay grew up on Lewis in the Outer Hebrides, going on to study in Glasgow and Dublin, where he developed an interest in the links between Scottish and Irish literature. These days he divides his time between his role as senior lecturer in Literature at the University of St Andrews and writing his own poetry; his two collections were both shortlisted for the Saltire Scottish poetry book of the year.

“I grew up in a community where there was so much music, so much song, so many stories,” he said. “That meant it was always legitimate; I was allowed to write and to be a storyteller.”

He was raised bilingual in Gaelic and English, and he also speaks Spanish, Danish and Irish. His poems usually begin life in Gaelic. His appointment comes amid a national conversation about the future of Scotland’s native languages, Gaelic and Scots, as the number of speakers of each dwindles. The Scottish languages bill, which would give both official status, will have its final reading during Mackay’s tenure.

PHOTOGRAPH: UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS