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A. D. a Trilogy of Plays

Edwin Morgan

Cover Picture of A. D. a Trilogy of Plays
Categories: Scottish
Imprint: Carcanet Poetry
Publisher: Carcanet Press
Available as:
Paperback (320 pages)
(Pub. Sep 2000)
9781857544985
Out of Stock
  • Description
  • Excerpt
  • Author
  • Awards
  • Reviews
  • 'I'm not really a believer, but I'm well up on the
    Bible, and I was brought up in a Church of
    Scotland church-going family... I really enjoyed
    getting into what I imagined might be the character
    of Jesus. He's a man - perhaps He was the
    Son of God, but He was a man. I haven't
    shirked the idea of sex, for example. That has to
    come in. I've got lots of things that are not Biblical,
    that would possibly offend some believers,
    but they are necessary to create a real character.'
     

    Edwin Morgan interview, Herald, 31 August 1999

                
    Edwin Morgan, Scotland's best-loved poet, returns to the stage after his celebrated Phaedra with a powerful and shocking millennial examination of the life of Jesus Christ as a man among men.

    Jesus, a human figure in an inhuman time, experiences all that a man can experience; Morgan departs from the Gospels in his exploration of how this Person came to know His world. His love affair with an unmarried woman, Helen, and a declaration of love from John,
    'the disciple whom Jesus loved', are in the larger character of Jesus that Morgan discovers.
    'My ambition is to tell a good story.'

    The year 2000 has been a triumphant annus mirabilis for Morgan, and A.D. is a fitting culmination; honest, candid and experimental in spiritual and linguistic terms.
    Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) was born in Glasgow. He served with the RAMC in the Middle East during World War II. He became lecturer in English at the University of Glasgow, where he had studied, and retired as titular Professor in 1980. He was Glasgow's first Poet Laureate and from 2004 until ... read more
    Awards won by Edwin Morgan Winner, 2000 Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry
    Praise for Edwin Morgan 'Edwin Morgan's experimental and science fiction poems often imply joyful adventure, boundless optimism.'

    Carol Rumens, The Guardian where 'A Little Catechism' was Poem of the Week

    'distinctly and excitingly nonconformist [...] they stunningly convey the poet's love for Glasgow. The traditional structure is interjected with Scottish language and anecdotes, making it a thought-provoking read.'

    Scottish Field

      'A broad celebration of one of the most lively and creative writers of his time'

    Mike Ferguson, Stride Magazine
    'For readers new to Morgan, it forms a perfect introduction, showcasing his fearless experimentation... For those who already know Morgan's work, this selection is a welcome romp of rediscovery. It offers a reminder that he masters every form - from sonnets to strict rhyme schemes with free rhythm to the disintegrating word curtains of some of his early concrete poems - and gilds them all with the humour and humanity that infuse his own effervescent voice.... He never shrinks from the darkness but the shimmering beauty of his words somehow makes it more bearable.'

    Fiona Rintoul, The Herald

    'Thank God, thank whatever all-seeing quick-witted deity you like, we have Edwin Morgan to show us how to live, and keep living..."pleasure" is nowhere strong enough to convey the joyous energy of his work.'

    Kathleen Jamie 

     'Edwin Morgan's translation of twenty-five poems into Scots, now reissued after almost half a century, finesses one difficulty by substituting another. Wi Haill Voice gives Mayakovsky a shout from the streets without making him a Dickensian exercised in dialect - Scots provides the necessary sense of estrangement.'
    William Logan, The New Criterion
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