Callum Macdonald (1912–1999), was a Scottish printer and publisher born in

Breaclete Breacleit (or Roulanish; ; Old Norse: ''Breiðiklettr'') is the central village on Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Breaclete is within the parish of Uig. Although the village name comes from a geographical feature rather than a ...

on the island of

Great Bernera Great Bernera (; ), often known just as Bernera (), is an island and community council, community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. With an area of just over , it is the thirty-fourth largest List of islands of Scotland, Scottish island. Great ...

. He was educated in

Stornoway Stornoway (; ) is the main town, and by far the largest, of the Outer Hebrides (or Western Isles), and the capital of Lewis and Harris in Scotland. The town's population is around 6,953, making it the third-largest island town in Scotlan ...

and read

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. After service in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he set up in business as a publisher in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

(relocating latterly to

Loanhead Loanhead is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, in a commuter belt to the south of Edinburgh, and close to Roslin, Bonnyrigg and Dalkeith. The town was built on coal and oil shale mining, and the paper industries. History Loanhead was a tiny vil ...

) and founded the literary journal ''

Lines Review ''Lines Review'' was a Scottish poetry journal founded by the publisher Callum Macdonald in 1952. Its original editorial board included the Scottish poets Sydney Goodsir Smith, Hugh MacDiarmid, Norman MacCaig, Sorley MacLean and Denis Peploe. La ...

'' in 1952. He died in

Peebles Peebles () is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in ...

. As a principled publisher, Callum Macdonald used proceeds from his general printing business to specialise in the publication of poetry and was instrumental in advancing the work of many major Scottish poets such as

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid ( , ), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish ...

Sydney Goodsir Smith Sydney Goodsir Smith (26 October 1915 – 15 January 1975) was a New Zealand-born Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots, sometimes referred to as Lallans, and was a major figure of the Scottish Renais ...

and

Norman MacCaig Norman Alexander MacCaig (14 November 1910 – 23 January 1996) was a Scottish poet and teacher. His poetry, in modern English, is known for its humour, simplicity of language and great popularity. Life Norman Alexander MacCaig was born at 15 E ...

. He was awarded an MBE for services to Scottish literary publishing in 1992. In 2001, his widow, the poet Tessa Ransford, founded the ''Callum Macdonald Memorial Award'', an annual prize given to small publishers who specialise in

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

References

Angus Calder, Gazetteer for Scotland
1912 births 1999 deaths Scottish book publishers (people) People from the Isle of Lewis Scottish printers Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Members of the Order of the British Empire Scottish Renaissance 20th-century Scottish businesspeople {{Scotland-business-bio-stub