Carmina Gadelica

Shortlist for the Highland Book Prize 2018 has been announced!
The winner will be announced on Saturday, May 11th.
'The Highland Book Prize celebrates the finest published work that recognises the rich landscape and cultural diversity of the Highlands. This annual prize is open to work in fiction, non-fiction and poetry.'
... — Products shown: As the Women Lay Dreaming: a novel of the Iolaire disaster - Donald S. Murray, The Valley at the Centre of the World - Malachy Tallack, The Walrus Mutterer - Mandy Haggith, The Story Keeper - Anna Mazzola, The Assynt Crofter: Allan MacRae, A Life, Highland Herald: Reporting the News from the North - David Ross, The Last Wilderness: A Journey into Silence - Neil Ansell, A History of Scotland’s Landscapes, Into the Peatlands: A Journey Through the Moorland Year - Robin A. Crawford and A Richness of Martens: Wildlife Tales from Ardnamurchan - Polly Pullar.
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The third edition of Bob McMillan's 'Skye Birds' available now.
‘It is a surprise that…[this] is the first publication dedicated exclusively to [Skye’s] birds. For some reason the island of Skye has been regarded as a birdwatching backwater important for Golden Eagles, White tailed Eagles and not much more. Despite this undeserved reputation a total of 260 species have been recorded, with 14 of those ‘red listed’ as of high conservation concern…another innovation has been the... inclusion of Gaelic names for some birds. While this is not uncommon in a few other books, the addition of some regional Gaelic names is very unusual and very welcome’ – Ray Collier, The Guardian
— Products shown: Skye Birds: An illustrated guide to the birds of Skye and where to find them, RSPB Handboook of Scottish Birds, Collins: Bird Guide – The Most Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe and The Seabird’s Cry - Adam Nicolson.
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FEATURED BOOK: 'Skye: The Island and its Legends'
‘To all the saints and sinners, heroes and Little People, giants, water-horses, and other curious creatures who look out from the past through these pages, and to all the sons and daughters of Skye, wheresoever they may have found a habitation, I dedicate this book, for of their deeds and thoughts is woven the spirit and the treasure of the Isle of Mist’ – Otta Swire
— Products shown: Skye: The Island and Its Legends - Otta Swire, Old Skye Tales: Traditions, Reflections and Memories - William Mackenzie, The Guide to Mysterious Skye and Lochalsh - Geoff Holder, Myths and Legends of the Celts - James MacKillop and Norse Mythology - Neil Gaiman.

'No one can create a more eloquently written suspense novel than Peter May. His prose evokes a setting that is almost mystical in its untamed beauty' - New York Journal of Books
'The Man With No Face', the revised edition of Peter May's 1981 novel 'Hidden Faces', out now.
— Products shown: The Man With No Face - Peter May, Coffin Road - Peter May, Lewis #1: The Blackhouse - Peter May, Lewis #2: The Lewis Man - Peter May and Lewis #3: The Chessmen - Peter May.

Carmina Gadelica will now be entering its winter timetable (open weekdays and Saturdays, 10am to 3:30pm).

UPDATE: Carmina is now open!
Carmina Gadelica will be closed on Monday 14th and Tuesday 15th January for a stocktake. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

'No one alive in Lewis can ever forget the 1st of January 1919, and future generations will speak of it as the blackest day in the history of the island. The terrible disaster at Holm on New Year's morning has plunged every home and every heart in Lewis into grief unutterable. Language cannot express the desolation, the despair which this awful catastrophe has inflicted.' - William Grant, founder of the Stornoway Gazette, 1919
Copies of 'The Darkest Dawn' still available in Carmina Gadelica.
— Products shown: Call na h-Iolaire: The Darkest Dawn – The Story of the Iolaire Tragedy.

'At 1.55am on 1st January 1919, a naval yacht carrying sailors home on leave ran aground on rocks near the village of Holm, a mere 20 yards from the shore of the Isle of Lewis and less than a mile from the safe harbour of Stornoway. HMY Iolaire was crowded with 280 men, mostly naval reservists returning to the safety and comfort of their homes after the horrors of the Great War.'
'Call na h-Iolaire: The Darkest Dawn – The Story of the Iolaire Tragedy' available now in Carmina Gadelica and Aros.
— Products shown: Call na h-Iolaire: The Darkest Dawn – The Story of the Iolaire Tragedy, As the Women Lay Dreaming: a novel of the Iolaire disaster - Donald S. Murray and When I Heard the Bell: The Loss of the Iolaire - John MacLeod.

'The Great Book of Skye 3', the third and final volume in the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of Skye's people, is out now.
Praise for 2014's 'The Great Book of Skye'
'This book should be possessed by anybody with the remotest interest in Skye...every page is a revelation...buy this book' - Roger Hutchinson, West Highland Free Press
... — Products shown: The Great Book of Skye 3.
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Mairi Hedderwick has been sketching the Hebrides ever since her first visit to Coll at the age of seventeen. Her newest diaries features some of her favourite selection of drawings, which communicates her passion for some of Scotland's most magical and beautiful places.

Donald S Murray will be doing a talk today (Tuesday 27th November) about 'As the Women Lay Dreaming' in Carmina Gadelica. You're very welcome to join!

Donald S Murray will be doing a talk tomorrow (Tuesday 27th November) about 'As the Women Lay Dreaming' in Carmina Gadelica. You're very welcome to join!

Donald S Murray will be signing copies of his latest novel of the Iolaire disaster, 'As the Women Lay Dreaming', in Carmina Gadelica Tuesday 27th November 1-2pm.

'At the end of 1942, Rena's sister Ella gave her a 1943 diary as a present…[which gives us] a fascinating insight into the everyday life on a Highland croft during the middle of the Second World War...I felt that if I didn’t document Rena’s words, this period of life in Little Loch Broom would have dispersed into the ether.' (excerpt from book)
'Rena’s Diary: Life in a Scottish Crofting Community' out now.
— Products shown: Rena’s Diary: Life in a Scottish Crofting Community - Kenneth MacLennan.

'A powerful book…history brought to life through fiction, and when it is done in a manner as moving and beautiful as this it is invaluable' - Alistair Braidwood, The Daily Telegraph
'As the Women Lay Dreaming', Donald S. Murray's new novel on the Iolaire disaster, out now.
— Products shown: As the Women Lay Dreaming: a novel of the Iolaire disaster - Donald S. Murray, The Dark Stuff: Stories From the Peatlands - Donald S. Murray, Herring Tales - Donald S. Murray and The Guga Hunters - Donald S. Murray.

FEATURED BOOK: 'Autumn', Ali Smith, shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017 and selected as The Guardian's Book of the Year.
'Bold and brilliant' - Jackie Kay, The Observer
— Products shown: Autumn - Ali Smith.