Marcas Mac an Tuairneir
Mark Spencer Turner

Gaelic

‘S e Marcas Mac an Tuairneir (Mark Spencer Turner) bàrd, eadar-theangaiche agus deasaiche a tha air duaisean a choisinn airson a cuid obrach an an Gàidhlig na h-Alba is na h-Èireann, sa Bheurla, is ann am Polàiris. Tha MA Hons ann an Eòlas Gàidhlig is Eòlas Spàinnteach aige agus MLitt ann an Litreachas Èireannach is Albannach bho Oilthigh Obar Dheathain, a bharrachd air MA ann an Sgrìobhadh Ficsean do Thelevisean bho Oilthigh Cailleannach Ghlaschu.

Bidh na cruinneachaidhean bàrdachd aige a’ toirt a-steach Deò (Grace Note Publications, 2013), Lus na Tùise (Còraichean air Tilleadh, 2016), Dùileach (Evertype, 2021) – a nochd air geàrr-liosta Duais Ruaraidh MhicThòmais ann an 2022 – agus Polaris (Leamington Books, 2022), a bha cuideachd air geàrr-liosta Duais Ruaraidh MhicThòmais, cho math ri duais Leabhar Bàrdachd Albannach na Bliadhna aig Comann an Chrann na h-Alba, agus Duais Saboteur ann an 2023. Cho-sgrìobh e cuideachd am leabhran bàrdachd beul-fo-bhonn / heelster-gowdie (Tapsalteerie, 2017) le Stuart A. Paterson. Chaidh a bhàrdachd eadar-theangachadh gu còig cànanan deug, a’ toirt a-steach Banglais, Beurla Ghallta, Catalanais, Còrnais, Cuimris, Fraingis, Ogsatanais, Pòlannais, agus Spàinntis.

Bidh e gu cunbhalach a’ co-obrachadh le luchd-ciùil a’ gabhail a-steach Raonaid Nic an Fhùcadair air pròiseactan òrain ùr-nòsach na Gàidhlig leithid Depositions, sreath òran le taic bho Alba Chruthachail ann an Gàidhlig na h-Alba is na h-Èireann, sa Bheurla, sa Bheurla Ghallta is san Ucràinis air am brosnachadh le bàrdachd Anton Floyd, a’ nochdadh an toiseach aig Celtic Connections 2026. Mar sgrìobhadair dhealbhan-cluiche, chaidh ainmeachadh mar Dhràmaire Gàidhlig Ùr na Bliadhna ann an 2016, leis na dealbhan-cluiche aige Tilleadh agus Turadh a’ buannachadh Cuach Gaiseat Steòrnabhaigh aig Mòdan Nàiseanta Rìoghail co-leantach. Na bhall de bhuidheann ealain Dhùn Èideann the Heretics, bha e na Mhakar aig Caidreachas nan Sgrìobhadairean (Alba) ann an 2024 agus tha e an-dràsta na bhàrd-air-mhuinntearas aig Taig-òsta Bhoth Mhoireil, taigh-òsta Rocco Forte ann an Dùn Èideann.

Bha e air geàrr-liosta Duais Bàrdachd Ghàidhlig Bhaile na h-Ùige seachd tursan, a’ buannachadh ann an 2017 le ‘Òran na Cille’, a chruthaich bunait pròiseact ioma-ealain le maoineachadh ColmCille 1500, a’ ceangal choimhearsnachdan Gàidhlig ann an Alba, Èirinn agus Mannan. Ann an 2024, b’ esan a’ chiad bhàrd a bha air an dà gheàrr-liosta Ghàidhlig is Eadar-nàiseanta aig Baile nan na h-Ùige le dàin fa leth, agus a’ chiad cho-bhuannaiche den Duais Eadar-nàiseanta còmhla ri Magi Gibson. B’ e am film-bhàrdachd aige ‘An Leabhar II’ a’ chiad fhilm dhen t-seòrsa a chaidh a thoirt a-steach ann an ‘Dàin Albannach Às Fheàrr’ aig Leabharlann Bàrdachd na h-Alba ann an 2021. Choisinn e Bonn Òir Chomann Leòdhais is na Hearadh airson Bàrdachd aig Mòd Nàiseanta Rìoghail 2023 ann am Paisley.

‘S e Mac an Tuairneir deasaiche Sradagan san Iarmailt (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2024), cruinneachadh farsaing de bhàrdachd le sgrìobhadairean Gàidhlig a thàinig am bàrr bhon bhliadhna 2000. Mar eadar-theangaiche, the e air cliù a choisinn mar aon de na h-eadar-theangaichean Gàidhlig-Beurla as fheàrr ann an Alba. Chaidh an leabhar eadar-theangachaidhean aige gu Gàidhlig, Cruinneachadh, fhoillseachadh le Drunk Muse Press ann an 2023, agus bha e na eadar-theangaiche na Gàidhlig airson Depositions le Anton Floyd san eagan sònraichte leis na Cànanan Ceilteach is Beurla Ghallta bho Ghlóir (2024). Dh’eadar-theangaich e cuideachd Rainbow Books le Lawrence Schimel gu Gàidhlig – na ciad leabhraichean chloinne LGDTC sa chànan – air am foillseachadh le Tippermuir Books, agus tha e air a bhith na cho-dheasaiche air grunn dhuanairean a’ toirt a-steach How Do We Talk About Knives (Matecznik Press, 2024) le Rebecca Sharpe agus Samina Chaudhry.

‘S e Deasaiche na Gàidhlig do Northwords Now agus an iris Ghàidhlig aige Tuath a th’ ann, agus bha e roimhe na Dheasaiche Gàidhlig do The Poets’ Republic / Poblachd nam Bàrd bhon dàrna iris chun an aonamh-deug.

Chaidh aithneachadh a thoirt do shaothair leantainneach Mhic an Tuairneir ann an Ealain is Cultar na Gàidhlig le Duais Nàiseanta na Gàidhlig ann an 2023, às deidh dha a bhith air ainmeachadh ceithir tursan roimhe. Bha e roimhe na chiad Oifigear Leasachadh Seirbheis na Gàidhlig aig Leabharlann Bàrdachd na h-Alba, na Chathraiche do Chaidreachas nan Sgrìobhadaichean (Alba) bho 2021-2023 agus do Bhothan Dhùn Èideann bho 2018-2020. Mar eòlaiche cànan is litreachas na Gàidhlig, bha e na shuidhe air Bòrd-gnìomha Chomann an Chrann na h-Alba, agus air Bùird-stiùiridh Ionad Sgrìobhadairean na h-Alba, Chomann nan Còisirean Gàidhlig agus Leabharlann Bàrdachd na h-Alba.

English

Mark Spencer Turner (Marcas Mac an Tuairneir) is an award-winning poet, translator, and editor working in Scottish Gaelic, English, Irish, and Polari. He holds an MA Hons in Gaelic and Hispanic Studies and an MLitt in Irish and Scottish Literature from the University of Aberdeen, as well as an MA in TV Fiction Writing from Glasgow Caledonian University.

His poetry collections include Deò (Grace Note Publications, 2013), Lus na Tùise (Rights Reverted, 2016), Dùileach (Evertype, 2021) – shortlisted for the Derick Thomson Prize in 2022 – and Polaris (Leamington Books, 2022), which was also shortlisted for the Derick Thomson Prize, as well as the Saltire Society’s Scottish Poetry Book of the Year award, and a Saboteur Award in 2023. He also co-authored the pamphlet beul-fo-bhonn / heelster-gowdie (Tapsalteerie, 2017) alongside Stuart A. Paterson. His poetry has been translated into fifteen languages including Bangla, Catalan, Cornish, French, Occitan, Polish, Scots, Spanish, and Welsh.

He regularly collaborates with musicians including Rachel Walker on contemporary Gaelic songwriting projects such as Depositions, a Creative Scotland-supported suite of songs in Gaelic, Scots, Irish, Ukrainian and English inspired by Anton Floyd’s poetry, premiering at Celtic Connections 2026. As a playwright, he was named New Gaelic Playwright of the Year in 2016, with his plays Tilleadh and Turadh winning the Stornoway Gazette Trophy at consecutive Royal National Mòds. A member of the Edinburgh-based arts collective the Heretics, he was Federation of Writers (Scotland) Makar in 2024 and is currently poet-in-residence at The Balmoral, a Rocco Forte Hotel in Edinburgh.

He has been shortlisted for the Wigtown Gaelic Poetry Award seven times, winning in 2017 with ‘Òran na Cille’, which formed the basis of a ColmCille 1500-funded multi-artform project linking Gaelic-speaking communities in Scotland, Ireland, and Man. In 2024, he became the first poet to feature on both Gaelic and International Wigtown shortlists with separate poems, and the first co-winner of the International Prize alongside Magi Gibson. His film-poem ‘An Leabhar II’ was the first of its form to be included in the Scottish Poetry Library’s ‘Best Scottish Poems’ in 2021. He was awarded the Lewis and Harris Association Gold Medal for Poetry at the 2023 Royal National Mòd in Paisley.

Turner is the editor of Sradagan san Iarmailt (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2024), a comprehensive anthology of poetry by Gaelic writers who have established themselves since 2000. As a translator, he has gained recognition as one of Scotland’s finest Gaelic-English translators. His volume of translations into Gaelic, Cruinneachadh, was published by Drunk Muse Press in 2023, and he served as Scottish Gaelic translator for Anton Floyd’s Depositions in its Celtic Languages and Scots edition from Glóir (2024). He has also translated Lawrence Schimel’s Rainbow Books into Gaelic – the first LGBTQ children’s books in the language – published by Tippermuir Books, and has served as a co-editor of various anthologies including How Do We Talk About Knives (Matcznik Press, 2024) alongside Rebecca Sharpe and Samina Chaudhry.

He is the Gaelic Editor of Northwords Now and its Gaelic supplement Tuath, and was previously Gaelic Editor of The Poets’ Republic / Poblachd nam Bàrd from its second to eleventh issues. Turner’s lifelong contribution to Gaelic Arts and Culture was recognised with a National Gaelic Award in 2023, having been nominated four times previously. Formerly the inaugural Gaelic Service Development Officer at the Scottish Poetry Library, he was Chair of the Federation of Writers (Scotland) from 2021-2023 and of Bothan Dhùn Èideann from 2018-2020. As a Gaelic language and literature specialist, he has sat on the Executive Board of the Saltire Society, and the Boards of Scottish Writers Centre, The Association of Gaelic Choirs and The Scottish Poetry Library.