Andrew Greig

For the Scottish rugby union player, see Andrew Greig (rugby union). For the Scottish goalkeeper, see Andy Greig.

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.

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

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

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

Published work

Poetry

• Greig, Andrew; Czerkawska, Catherine (1973). White Boats. Edinburgh: Garret Arts.
• —— (1977). Men on Ice. Edinburgh: Canongate Publishing. ISBN 0903937174.
• —— (1982). Surviving Passages. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 0862410258.
• Greig, Andrew; Jamie, Kathleen (1986). A Flame in your Heart. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe Books. ISBN 1852240172.
• —— (1990). The Order of the Day. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN 1852241020.
• —— (1994). Western Swing. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN 185224268X.
• —— (2001). Into You. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN 1852245557.
• —— (2006). This Life, This Life: New & Selected Poems 1970 - 2006. Newcastle upon Tyne: Bloodaxe. ISBN 978-1852247133.
• —— (2011). Getting Higher: The Complete Mountain Poems. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN 978-1846971921.
• —— (2011). As Though We Were Flying. Tarset: Bloodaxe. ISBN 978-1852249168.
• —— (2013). Found at Sea. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN 9781846972690.
• Butlin, Ron; Greig, Andrew; Lochhead, Liz; McCabe, Brian (2020). Horns & Wings & Stabiliser Things: The Lost Poets. Edinburgh: Polygon. ISBN 978-1846975554.

Non-fiction and memoir

• —— (1985). Summit Fever: The Story of an Armchair Climber. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0091620600.
• —— (1986). Kingdoms of Experience: Everest, the Unclimbed Ridge. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 009165890X.
• —— (2006). Preferred Lies: A Journey to the Heart of Scottish Golf. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 978-0297848356.
• —— (2010). At the Loch of the Green Corrie. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1847249968.
• Heron, Mike; Greig, Andrew (2017). You Know What You Could Be: Tuning into the 1960s. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1784293000.

Fiction

• —— (1992). Electric Brae: A Modern Romance. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 0862414040.
• —— (1996). The Return of John MacNab. London: Headline Review. ISBN 0747217041.
• —— (1999). When They Lay Bare. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 057119687X.
• —— (2000). That Summer. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 0571204236. (Published in some markets as The Clouds Above: A Novel of Love and War.)
• —— (2004). In Another Light. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 029784878X.
• —— (2008). Romanno Bridge. London: Quercus. ISBN 978-1847243157.
• —— (2013). Fair Helen. London: Quercus. ISBN 9780857381910.
• —— (2021). Rose Nicolson. London: Quercus. ISBN 9781784292980.

Articles

• —— (November 1983), "A White Elephant in Anstruther", in Lindsay, Maurice (ed.), The Scottish Review: Arts and Environment 32