| Lewis Grassic Gibbon | |
|---|---|
| Born | James Leslie Mitchell 13 February 1901 Hillhead Seggat, Auchterless, Aberdeenshire |
| Died | 7 February 1935 (aged 33) Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire |
| Pen name | Lewis Grassic Gibbon |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | Scottish |
| Citizenship | British |
| Period | 1928–1935 |
| Genres | General fiction |
| Subjects | Scottish country life Science fiction Historical novels |
| Literary movement | 20th century Scottish Renaissance |
| Notable work(s) | The trilogy A Scots Quair, in particular the first book Sunset Song |
| Children | Rhea Martin |
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www.grassicgibbon.com |
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Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell (13 February 1901 – 7 February 1935), a Scottish writer.
Born in Auchterless and raised in Arbuthnott, then in Kincardineshire, Mitchell started working as a journalist for the Aberdeen Journal and the Scottish Farmer at age 16. In 1919 he joined the Royal Army Service Corps and served in Iran, India and Egypt before enlisting in the Royal Air Force in 1920. In the RAF he worked as a clerk and spent some time in the Middle East. He married Rebecca Middleton in 1925, with whom he settled in Welwyn Garden City. He began writing full-time in 1929. Mitchell wrote numerous books and shorter works under both his real name and nom de plume before his early death in 1935 of peritonitis brought on by a perforated ulcer.
Mitchell attracted attention from his earliest attempts at fiction, notably from H. G. Wells, but it was his trilogy entitled A Scots Quair, and in particular its first book Sunset Song, with which he made his mark. A Scots Quair with its combination of realist narrative and lyrical use of dialect is considered to be among the defining works of 20th century Scottish Renaissance.
The Grassic Gibbon Centre was established in Arbuthnott in 1991 to commemorate the author's life.
In 1934 Mitchell collaborated with Hugh MacDiarmid on Scottish Scene which included three of Gibbon's short stories. These were collected posthumously in A Scots Hairst (1969).
Mitchell's biography, by Iain S. Munro, appeared in 1966.