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Aonghas MacNeacail (born 7 June 1942), nickname Aonghas dubh or Black Angus) is a contemporary writer in the Scottish Gaelic language.
Early life
MacNeacail was born in Uig on the Isle of Skye on 7 June 1942. He was raised in Idrigil, speaking Gaelic as a child. He was registered at birth as Angus Nicolson, but later changed his official name to "Aonghas MacNeacail," the Scottish Gaelic version of his name. He attended Uig Primary School and Portree High School, and from 1968 the University of Glasgow where he was one of a group of young writers who gathered around Philip Hobsbaum which also included James Kelman, Tom Leonard, Alasdair Gray, Liz Lochhead and Jeff Torrington.
Career
Besides drawing on Gaelic traditions, MacNeacail is influenced by the Black Mountain School of the USA. He has held writing fellowships in Scotland, including residences at the Gaelic college of Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, and reads his work at festivals around the world. He has collaborated with musicians and visual artists, and written drama. His poetry has been widely published throughout the English speaking world in journals such as Ploughshares, Poetry Australia, World Poetry Almanac, and JuxtaProse Literary Magazine. He has also received wide recognition and critical acclaim for his screenwriting and songwriting.
MacNeacail won the Stakis Prize for Scottish Writer of the Year with his third collection, Oideachadh Ceart ('A Proper Schooling and other poems'), in 1997. His most recent collection Laoidh an Donais òig ('hymn to a young demon') was published by Polygon in 2007. His partner is the actor and writer Gerda Stevenson.
