Scottish Literature

ALAN RIACH is the Professor of Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow. He was born in Airdrie in 1957. He studied English literature at Cambridge University from 1976 to 79. He completed his PhD in the Department of Scottish Literature at Glasgow University in 1986. His academic career has included positions as a postdoctoral research fellow, senior lecturer, Associate Professor and Pro-Dean in the Faculty of Arts, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand 1986-2000.

‘Obviously indispensable; I am learning new facts and possibilities on every page.’ – Neal Ascherson ‘It takes women and men of prodigious faculty to advance the institution of a National Literature.’ – Niyi Osundare ‘The presiding spirit over this book is Hugh MacDiarmid…’ – Stuart Kelly ‘Scottish Literature: An Introduction, Alan Riach’s magnum opus, is all that the term implies. It is encyclopaedic, refreshing, personal and yet detached, and it has provoked me into buying Gavin Douglas’s Aeneid, The Eneados, which is a bloody good read, as is the book that prompted its purchase!’ – John Purser ‘Alan Riach’s Scottish Literature: An Introduction is excellent – incredibly comprehensive! I think it is pitched at exactly the right level for the audience it’s aimed it at. I’m already well into it and am looking forward to reading the whole book.’ – Ronald Renton