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Thogadh Graham Cooper ann an Siorrachd Obar Dheathain agus an dèidh dha a dhreuchd mar lannsair a leigeil dheth thill e a dh’fhuireach ann. Thòisich e air Gàidhlig ionnsachadh mar inbheach aig Club Gàidhlig Obar Dheathain agus an uair sin air astar aig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. Choisinn e duais aig a’ Mhòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail le sgeulachd ghoirid mus do sgrìobh e ‘Dà Shamhradh ann an Raineach’, nobhail eachdraidheal mu bheatha Dhùghaill Bhochanain, bàrd cliùiteach Shiorrachd Pheairt. Bha an nobhail air geàrr-liosta nan Duaisean Litreachais ann an 2020. ’S ann mu na mìosan ro Bhlàr Flodden ann an 1513 a bha an dàrna nobhail a sgrìobh Graham – ‘An Ròs a Leigheas’. Choisinn an nobhail a’ chiad duais mar Leabhar do dh’Inbhich aig a’ Mhòd ann am Peairt ann an 2022. Tha e a’ còrdadh ris an-diugh a bhith a’ sgrìobhadh sgeulachdan goirid.

 

Graham Cooper spent his childhood in Aberdeenshire and returned to live there after retiring from a surgical career. He began learning Gaelic as an adult at Aberdeen Gaelic Club and through distance learning at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig. He won a prize with a short story at the Royal National Mòd of 2017 and then wrote ‘Dà Shamhradh ann an Raineach’, a historical novel based on the life of the renowned Perthshire poet Dugald Buchanan. The novel was shortlisted for the Gaelic Literature Awards in 2020. Graham’s second novel, ‘An Ròs a Leigheas’, was set in the months before the Battle of Flodden in 1513. The novel won the prize for the Best Book for Adults at the Mòd in Perth in 2022. At present he is enjoying writing short stories. 

 

‘S e sgrìobhadair agus fear-naidheachd a th’ ann an Calum L MacLeòid. À Inbhir Nis o thus, ach le ceanglaichean theaghlaich a Bharraigh, tha MacLeòid air dà nobhail agus cruinneachadh bàrdachd a sgrìobhadh. Choisinn an dàrna nobhail aige Fon Choill Duais Chomann Gàidhealach Lunnainn airson Leabhar Ficsein aig Na Duaisean Litreachais 2021. Chuir Theatre gu Leòr air a’ chiad dealbh-chluich aige Stornoway, Quebec ann an 2023. Bidh e cuideachd ag obair mar fear-naidheachd aig sgioba naidheachdan a’ BhBC ann an Inbhir Nis. Tha e a’ fuireachd ann an Inbhir Pheofharain còmhla ris a bhean agus an triùir chloinne.

 

Calum L MacLeòid is a writer and journalist. From Inverness originally, but with family ties to Barra, MacLeòid has written two novels and a poetry collection. His second novel Fon Choill won the Highland Society of London Prize for Best Fiction Book at the Gaelic Book Awards 2021. Theatre Gu Leòr produced his first play Stornoway, Quebec in 2023. He also works as a journalist in the BBC’s Gaelic news team, based in Inverness. He now lives in Dingwall with his wife and three children.