HUGH MACDIARMID - The Central Figure in the Scottish Literary Renaissance

Few people would question MacDiarmid’s key role in the Scottish Literary Renaissance of the 1920s. His rebelliously controversial statements about Scottish culture and identity gave a dynamic new perspective on the nation’s arts, politics, education and philosophy. Frequently accused of egotism and eccentricity, he had a galvanising impact on the cultural life of Scotland - and maintained always a total lack of concern about contradicting himself!
Some critics say his early lyrics are his finest work, while his epic poem ‘A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle’ (1926) is one of the great poems of Modernist literature.