DOLINA MACLENNAN: An Island Girl’s Journey
Dolina Maclennan: Biography Launch
1mh An Samhainn : Saturday 1st November
Born on January 1, 1938 in Marvig, Isle of Lewis, Dolina Maclennan is an outstanding singer, actress, and storyteller of national, indeed international renown. She has received a lifetime award from the Saltire Society for her contribution to Scottish cultural life.
In this sensitive and very personal account, she looks back on some of the forces which moulded her, from her childhood in South Lochs, a traditional Gaelic-speaking community in rural Lewis, to her friendship with many of the great figures of the Scottish literary and artistic scene over the past half century – including Hamish Henderson, Hugh Macdiarmid, and Sorley Maclean.
From her starring role in the iconic 1970s theatre production ‘The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil’ to the 1990s Gaelic TV soap opera ‘Machair’, and subsequent parts in The Queen (2006), Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle (2007) and Hamish Macbeth (1995), Dolina has become an instantly recognised figure. She also has all the qualities of the traditional Gaelic story-teller, steeped in island heritage and culture. Her authentic voice rings out loud and clear in these memories in a way that is simultaneously simple, powerful, and very moving.
Published and supported by the Island Books Trust