Donald S. Murray

Murray has published several poetic works and was chosen as one of three Scottish poets to give a reading at COP 26 in Glasgow in October 2021. He appeared in the Green Zone along with fellow Scots poets, Roseanne Watt and Pàdraig MacAoidh, at “Weathering the Storm: Scottish Poets Discuss Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation.”

His debut novel, As the Women Lay Dreaming, won the Paul Torday Memorial Prize in 2020 and was shortlisted for The Herald Scottish Culture Awards Outstanding Literature Award and the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award in 2019.

In 2015, Sequamur, Murray’s first full-length Scottish Gaelic play, was performed across Scotland, including at the Edinburgh Festival, as well as in Belfast, London, and Ypres in Belgium.

After three decades as an English teacher, Murray became a full-time writer in 2012. He now lives and works in Shetland.

Murray’s poetry has been critically acclaimed in the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award, being shortlisted twice in 1997 before winning in 2021 with Achanalt, a poetry pamphlet, along with publishers, Roncadora Press.

Donald S. Murray (born 1956) is a Scottish novelist, poet, and playwright. He has written several non-fiction books, including For the Safety of All and In a Veil of Mist, novels, poetry, music, and a play. He was awarded the 2020 Paul Torday Memorial Prize. In March 2022, he was a Scottish Books International featured writer.