In the Footsteps of Writers

Celebrating Edinburgh's 900th Anniversary by Donald Smith

Edinburgh is multi-layered, and the 900th Anniversary of its burgh status poses a challenge. How to even begin covering the people, the places and the events that have shaped life here?

My answer is look at the writers. What were they saying and how were they affected by history happening around them? But this quest turns up unexpected angles. From medieval saga-makers to modern playwrights, the diversity makes you ponder literature itself. 

Some writers are motivated by a purpose or vision - they want to change the world. Edinburgh examples include Patrick Geddes and Thomas Carlyle. Others have been driven by a compulsion to write about their own experiences. Hardly any aspect of life, including the most intimate details, escapes the pages of James Boswell's journals (originally secret) and letters. A century later novelist and biographer Margaret Oliphant produced more than a hundred books, driven by her determination to express women's neglected perspectives on society, history and religion.

Another kind of writer combines the urge to produce with a strong focus on artistic form. This connects authors as diverse as J.M. Barrie and Muriel Spark. Their own direct experience of life remains submerged, almost anonymous, in the quest to communicate meaningful shapes and patterns.

Then all of these diverse writers are influenced by wars, by never-ending tussles about Scotland's status as a nation, by religion or its absence, and by economic factors that affect the way authors reach readers. 

Yet somehow through nine centuries of it all - Edinburgh has continued to nurture and welcome writers.  And literature makes an increasing mark on the fabric and character of 'Our Storied Town'.

________________