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Records of 'Scottish International Review'

The Records of 'Scottish International Review' (Coll-232) include manuscripts and correspondence sent to this important and controversial literary journal by some of the major Scottish writers of the 1960s and 1970s.

There are poems and short stories submitted to the magazine by writers such as George Mackay Brown, Elspeth Davie, Hamish Henderson, Tom Leonard, Maurice Lindsay, Sorley Maclean, Edwin Morgan, Iain Crichton Smith, Sydney Goodsir Smith, and Derick Thomson. There is correspondence concerning submissions from these and other major figures including D. M. Black, Alan Bold, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Duncan Glen, Norman MacCaig, and Joan Ure. There are also letters from Hugh MacDiarmid, Tom Scott, and Alexander Scott expressing their hostility to the aims and editorial policy of Scottish International Review. The records also include typescripts of reviews (many by Robert Garioch) commissioned for the magazine which cover works by authors such as Stewart Conn, Robin Jenkins, William McIlvanney, Willa Muir, and Alan Sharp.

Although incomplete (particularly for the period 1969-71) the Records of Scottish International Review provide a vital insight into a dynamic period for Scottish writing where the writers associated with the Scottish Literary Revival were confronted with new international developments including 'Beat' and concrete poetry. In its attempts to present a broad spectrum of contemporary writing, Scottish International reflected intergenerational tensions while giving a voice to many younger Scottish writers and breaking with the male dominance of the Scottish literary scene by publishing many women writers.

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'Scottish International' Materials in Other Collections

Correspondence in the Papers of Hamish Henderson, Hugh MacDiarmid, and Tom Scott bears witness to the distrust and hostility provoked by Scottish International in part of the Scottish literary scene, due to what was seen as an anti-Scots-language bias and over-generous funding from the Scottish Arts Council. We also have an almost complete run of Scottish International from Hugh MacDiarmid's personal library (SC 8644/29).

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