Upcoming Events with Donald S. Murray:
Author Evenings: We are pleased to present two Author Evening events with award-winning Scottish writer Donald S. Murray at the following locations/dates. The Toronto event is co-sponsored by the Principal of St. Michael's College and the Celtic Studies Program. Some of Donald's titles will be available for purchase at each event: "As the Women Lay Dreaming", "The Salt and the Flame", "Leaving Songs" and other possible titles TBA. GUELPH: Date: Thursday April 9th 2026 Time: 7:30 - 9:00 p.m. Location: The Green Room (upstairs) at The Bookshelf bookstore & cinema 41 Quebec Street, Guelph ON N1H 2T1 Map: The Bookshelf Cost: Pay-what-you-can (Suggested donation of $10 or what you can) The 2nd floor is accessible via elevator from the main floor Refreshments (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) are available for purchase at the Bookshelf Cinema's 2nd floor small bar and typical cinema-type snacks available. The venue is limited to a maximum of 40 people. Please register by Tuesday April 7th to ensure your spot. Walk-ins are welcome but we cannot guarantee space. Please register here: The Green Room event TORONTO: Date: Thursday April 16th 2026 Time: 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. Location: Charbonnel Lounge, St. Michael's College 81 St Mary St, Toronto ON M5S 1J4 Map: Charbonnel Lounge Cost: Pay-what-you-can (Suggested donation of $15 or what you can) Refreshments of water/infused water will be offered. No coffee/tea will be available. Please register by Tuesday April 14th to ensure your spot. Walk-ins are welcome but we cannot guarantee space. Please register here: St. Michael's College event Cànan agus Òran - Saturday April 18th: For details and to register for the Cànan agus Òran/Language and Song workshop, click here: Cànan agus Òran Questions? You can email us at [email protected] |
Donald S. Murray is an award-winning Scottish writer whose historical novels, poetry, and non-fiction work addresses the depth of Hebridean culture and the Gaelic soul. Hailing from the Isle of Lewis, Murray now lives in Shetland. A former high school English teacher, he is now exclusively working as a writer, particularly telling the stories emerging from the twentieth-century history of the Hebrides. His research has been supported by grants from Creative Scotland and the Scottish Books Council. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Association for Scottish Literature and in the autumn 2026 will be the Scottish Writing Fellow at the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Otago, New Zealand.
One of Murray’s earlier novels, As the Women Lay Dreaming (Glasgow: Saraband, 2019) is currently experiencing a revival. It is featured by the University of the Highlands and Islands in the Northern Studies Summer Workshop this summer. This novel was inspired by the Iolaire disaster of 1919. This deeply moving novel about passion constrained, coping with loss and a changing world. As the Women Lay Dreaming explores how a single event can so dramatically impact communities, individuals and, indeed, our very souls. It was awarded the Paul Torday Memorial Prize (2020) and short and long listed for many other awards. A companion piece is Murray’s play Sequamur, in which a committed teacher at the Isle of Lewis’s only high school, encourages young men to take up arms in the First World War. Sadly, many never returned home. This play has now become required reading and has been added the Scottish high school curriculum; it has also been published bilingually in the anthology Dràma na Gàidhlig: A Century of Gaelic Drama (Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2021). Murray has been heavily involved in the commemoration of the hundred years anniversary of the Canadian steamship, the Metagama. In 1923, the UK and Canadian governments collaborated to remove over 300 young people from the impoverished postwar Hebrides. Two ships, the Marloch and the Canada, went to other islands in the two subsequent years triggering mass depopulation across the Hebrides. The first, most famous and most infamous was the Metagama. Donald Murray’s novel The Salt and the Flame (Glasgow: Saraband, 2024) traces the lives of two young people as they leave home for a new and different world. Related to this is his poignant collection of poetry, Leaving Songs (Isle of Lewis Book Trust, 2025) which captures the hope and heartbreak of Gaels in exile and Gaels left behind. The Metagama was also remembered in an onstage musical/spoken-word production The Metagama: An Atlantic Odyssey, which has consistently toured across Scotland, playing to full houses, since 2023 (most recently in March 2026) The ensemble has released an album of both traditional and newly-written songs; more information is also available on their Facebook page. Donald Murray will be in the Guelph region April 5th-9th and in Toronto April 10th-18th 2026. He is available to speak about Gaelic culture and history as the foundation of his literary work, in particular, about the impact of World War I and emigration from the Isle of Lewis and the Hebrides more generally, in the 1920s, and read from the relevant novels and poetry, including the brand-new novel The Loch of Bees, due to be published April 2026. He will also include a glimpse into the reason he is in Ontario: to research his ninth novel, this one based on the life of Thomas McLeod, from the Isle of Lewis. An illegitimate child, McLeod became a well-travelled “explorer” and was the only individual to take part in all three Scott and Shackleton Antarctic expeditions. McLeod was also involved in the Boer War in South Africa and traveled to many other places. He ended up in Canada, working as a school custodian in Brockville and then retiring and passing away in Kingston. |
