Alan Bold (Alan Norman Bold) Biography

Scottish poet and critic, born in Edinburgh, where he was educated at the University. After working on the editorial staff of the Times Educational Supplement, he became a freelance writer in 1967. Society Inebrious (1965), his first collection of poetry, was followed by numerous further volumes, which include To Find the New (1967), A Perpetual Motion Machine (1969), This Fine Day (1979), In This Corner (1983), and Homage to MacDiarmid (1985). The politically declamatory qualities of Bold's early verse modulate as his work progresses into the clarity and directness with which he addresses a wide range of social, cultural, and personal themes. He has also produced collections in Scots dialect, among which is the buoyantly humorous Summoned by Knox (1984). Bold's numerous critical studies include George Mackay Brown (1978), and his highly acclaimed biography, MacDiarmid: The Terrible Crystal; An Open Book (1990) is a volume of critical essays. Among the many anthologies he has edited are Making Love: The Picador Book of Erotic Verse (1978) and The Penguin Book of Socialist Verse (1970). A novel, East Is West, appeared in 1991.