Christine De Luca (born 4 April 1947) is a Scottish poet and writer from

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the n ...

, who writes in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

and

Shetland dialect Shetland dialect (also variously known as Shetlandic; broad or auld Shetland or Shaetlan; and referred to as Modern Shetlandic Scots (MSS) by some linguists) is a dialect of Insular Scots spoken in Shetland, an archipelago to the north of m ...

. Her poetry has been translated into many languages. She was appointed

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

Makar A makar () is a term from Scottish literature for a poet or bard, often thought of as a royal court poet. Since the 19th century, the term ''The Makars'' has been specifically used to refer to a number of poets of fifteenth and sixteenth ce ...

, or poet laureate from 2014 to 2017. De Luca is a global advocate for the

and literature of the

Northern Isles The Northern Isles ( sco, Northren Isles; gd, Na h-Eileanan a Tuath; non, Norðreyjar; nrn, Nordøjar) are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. They are part of Scotland, as are th ...

of Scotland.

Early life and education

De Luca was born Christine Pearson in

Walls Walls may refer to: *The plural of wall, a structure *Walls (surname), a list of notable people with the surname Places * Walls, Louisiana, United States * Walls, Mississippi, United States * Walls, Ontario, neighborhood in Perry, Ontario, C ...

. Her father, Sandy Pearson, was the headmaster of Happyhansel Junior Secondary School in

. De Luca moved to

in her late teens to study at

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

. After graduation, she taught high school for several years and later obtained a Masters in Educational Research in 1980.

Writing career

De Luca's first three poetry collections were published by the

Shetland Library Shetland Library is the public library service of Shetland, with its main branch based in Lerwick. Membership is open to both residents of and visitors to the islands. The library has a range of digital, online and physical material and collec ...

. Her first collection, ''Voes and Sounds'' was published in 1994 and her second work, ''Wast Wi Da Valkyries'', was published in 1997. Both collections won the Shetland Literary Prize. A third collection, 'Plain Song', was published in Shetland and Edinburgh in 2002. In 2004, De Luca's

pamphlet A pamphlet is an unbound book (that is, without a hard cover or binding). Pamphlets may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths, called a ''leaflet'' or it may consist of a ...

, ''Drops in Time's Ocean'', was published by Hansel Co-operative Press. It is based on eight generations of De Luca's family's history. Her poetry collection, ''Parallel Worlds'' (Luath Press) was published in 2005. A bi-lingual volume of Du Luca's poetry was published in 2007 by éditions fédérop; ''Parallel Worlds (''Mondes Parallèles''), Poems Translated from English and Shetlandic'', include De Luca's first four volumes of poetry and recent work, and was translated by Jean-Paul Blot and De Luca. In 2007, the collection won the poetry prize at the 9th Salon International du Livre Insulaire in

Ouessant Ushant (; br, Eusa, ; french: Ouessant, ) is a French island at the southwestern end of the English Channel which marks the westernmost point of metropolitan France. It belongs to Brittany and, in medieval terms, Léon. In lower tiers of govern ...

. De Luca's sixth poetry collection, ''North End of Eden'' was published by Luath Press in 2010. In 2011, De Luca's novel, ''And Then Forever'', was published by the

Shetland Times ''The Shetland Times'' is a weekly newspaper in Shetland, published on Fridays and based in Lerwick, the main town in the Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Sco ...

. Her

, ''Dat Trickster Sun'', (Mariscat Press 2014), was short-listed for the Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets award in 2014. This was translated into Italian by Francesca Romana Paci in 2015 (''Questo sole furfante'') and published by Trauben, Torino. De Luca was appointed Edinburgh's Makar (poet laureate) in 2014. She served as poet laureate from 2014 to 2017. Her poems have been chosen four times (2006, 2010, 2013 and 2015), by the

Scottish Poetry Library The Scottish Poetry Library is a public library specialising in Scottish poetry. Since 1999, the library has been based at 5 Crichton's Close, just off the Canongate in Edinburgh's Old Town. History and status The library was founded in 1984 ...

for its annual 20 ''Best Scottish Poems'' list. De Luca's work has been translated into several languages, including French, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish, Estonian, Latvian, Polish, and Welsh.

Northern Isles The Northern Isles ( sco, Northren Isles; gd, Na h-Eileanan a Tuath; non, Norðreyjar; nrn, Nordøjar) are a pair of archipelagos off the north coast of mainland Scotland, comprising Orkney and Shetland. They are part of Scotland, as are th ...
advocacy

De Luca is an advocate for the Shetland dialect, travelling internationally to share her native dialect with similar linguistic cultures, like

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

and

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

. De Luca is a co-founder of Hansel Co-operative Press, a non-profit cooperative, which promotes literary and artistic work in Shetland and

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

. De Luca has focused on promoting her native language through work with

children. She has written children's stories in the

. De Luca translated

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

’s ''George’s Marvellous Medicine'' into Shetland dialect as ''Dodie’s Phenomenal Pheesic'' (Black and White Publishing, 2008). Also published in 2016 by Black and White Publishing are two

Julia Donaldson Julia Donaldson (born Julia Catherine Shields; born ) is an English writer and playwright, and the 2011–2013 Children's Laureate. She is best known for her popular rhyming stories for children, especially those illustrated by Axel Scheffler, ...

books, translated by De Luca: ''Da Trow'' (''The Troll'') and ''The Shetland Gruffalo's Bairn'', (''The Gruffalo's Child'').

Selected publications

* 2021, ''Veeve''
Mariscat Press
poetry collection * 2021, ''The Art of Poetry & Other Poems''
Hansel Cooperative Press
Selected poems by Eugénio de Andrade (Portuguese) with versions in English (A Levitin) & Shetlandic * 2021, ''Another Time, Another Place''
The Scottish Gallery
12 paintings by Victoria Crowe, with 12 poems * 2020, ''Northern Alchemy''
Patrician Press
Selected bilingual, Shetlandic with English versions * 2017, ''Heimferðir/ Haemfarins'', Dimma, Selected bilingual, (mainly) Shetlandic with Icelandic versions by Aðalsteinn Ásberg Sigurðsson * 2017, ''Glimt av opphav/ Glims o Origin''
Ura Forlag
Selected bilingual, Shetlandic with Norwegian versions by Odd Goysøyr * 2017, ''Edinburgh Singing the City''
Saltire Society
poetry collection * 2015, ''Questo sole furfante''
Nuova Trauben
bilingual version of Dat Trickster Sun with translations in Italian by Francesca Romana Paci * 2014, ''Dat Trickster Sun''
Mariscat Press

* 2011, ''And Then Forever'',

, novel * 2010, ''North End of Eden'
Luath Press
poetry collection * 2007, ''Mondes Parallèles Translated from English and Shetlandic by Jean-Paul Blot''
éditions fédérop
poetry collection * 2005, ''Parallel Worlds''
Luath Press
poetry collection * 2004, ''Drop's in Time's Ocean''
Hansel Cooperative Press

* 2002, ''Plain Song'', The Shetland Library, poetry collection * 1997, ''Wast Wi Da Valkyries'', The Shetland Library, poetry collection * 1994, ''Voes and Sounds'', The Shetland Library, poetry collection

Awards and recognition

* 2014, appointed

, (2014—2017) * 2014, shortlisted for Michael Marks Awards for Poetry Pamphlets, for ''Dat Trickster Sun'' * 2007, International Book Fair in Ouessant, poetry prize, for ''Parallel Worlds , poems translated from English and Shetlandic'' * 1999, Shetland Literary Prize for ''Wast Wi Da Valkyries'' * 1996, Shetland Literary Prize, for ''Voce and Sounds''

Notes

References

External links

Shetland Dialect website

Scottish Poetry Library

Scottish Language Center: Shetland
{{DEFAULTSORT:De Luca, Christine People from Shetland Scottish women poets Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Living people Shetland poets 1947 births Scots-language poets 20th-century Scottish poets 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish poets 21st-century Scottish women writers