Bruce, George

(1909-2002)

   Bruce was born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, to a fishing family. After graduating from Aberdeen University, he taught English before starting on a long career with the BBC. He was arts producer for over 24 years and literary critic for the Sunday Times. He retired from the BBC in 1970, immediately published his Collected Poems and continued to publish many books over the next thirty years. On reaching the age of ninety, he jokingly remarked that he was just getting into his stride. His fifth collection, Pursuit: Poems 1986-1998, won him the Saltire Literary Award in 1999. "Cliff Face Erosion"-which Bruce considered to be his finest poem, possibly a metaphor for his own life - was his response to a photograph by Orlando Gualtieri of an eroding cliff face near Fraserburgh. Some of his other poems: "Kinnaird Head," "My House," "Sumburgh Heid," "The Fisherman," "The Singers," "Tom on the Beach."

   Sources: An Interview with George Bruce, by Mallie Boman: August 21, 2001 (http://www.wooster.edu/artfuldodge/interviews/bruce.htm). Biography of George Bruce (http://www.nls.uk/writestuff/heads/wee-bruce.html). The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry. 11th ed. The Columbia Granger's World of Poetry, Columbia University Press, 2005 (http://www.columbiagrangers.org).