That the Parliament recognises that 33-year-old Mearns novelist, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, published the first novel in his celebrated trilogy, A Scots Quair, 90 years ago; notes that the novel, Sunset Song, was first published in 1932, and that it is considered to be a literary classic, which explores a range of themes, including poverty, religion, agriculture and womanhood; understands that the novel is reported to be inspired by Arbuthnott in the Mearns, where Grassic Gibbon grew up under his original name, James Leslie Mitchell, before attending Stonehaven’s Mackie Academy and later working for the Aberdeen Journal and the Scottish Farmer in Glasgow; acknowledges that, during his short life, Grassic Gibbon wrote 17 volumes, leaving a tremendous literary legacy; highlights the work of the Grassic Gibbon Centre in Arbuthnott, which explores the life and work of the novelist before his untimely death before his 34th birthday, brought on by peritonitis; congratulates the Centre on its 30-year anniversary after opening in 1992, and encourages residents and visitors to the north east to attend the "Women in the Mearns" festival, organised by the Grassic Gibbon Centre, which is planned for August 2022.
Supported by:
Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Jeremy Balfour, Miles Briggs, Alexander Burnett, Maggie Chapman, Sharon Dowey, Jackie Dunbar, Russell Findlay, Murdo Fraser, Meghan Gallacher, Kenneth Gibson, Maurice Golden, Pam Gosal, Christine Grahame, Dr. Sandesh Gulhane, Rachael Hamilton, Craig Hoy, Liam Kerr, Stephen Kerr, Bill Kidd, Richard Leonard, Douglas Lumsden, Fulton MacGregor, Ruth Maguire, Stuart McMillan, Edward Mountain, Audrey Nicoll, Paul O'Kane, Douglas Ross, Alexander Stewart, Paul Sweeney, Sue Webber, Elena Whitham