Dàin Albannach as Fheàrr 2021: Gàidhlig
Best Scottish Poems 2021: Gaelic

Gaelic

An dèidh bliadhna fhada dhùbhlanach sgìtheil eile, chan iongnadh cuspairean mu chuingealachdh, ionndrainn agus miann air dàimh cheart is saorsa a bhith am follais an lùib dàin 2021. Bha iad sin rim faotainn gu cinnteach agus feadhainn a’ dèanamh mion-sgrùdadh air feartan leantainneach na paindeamaig ach gu leòr de phìosan eile a dh’ iarr a seachnadh buileach, glan.

Leugh mi cuideachd mu ghaol is cion gaoil – mar as dual as dòcha, agus bàrdachd eile a bha deònach a bhith aoireil no sgaiteach mu phoileataigs, laigseachan mhic an duine is eachdraidh a’ dèanamh ath-aithne oirnn. Mo bheannachd air na sgrìobhadairean air fad airson an spionnaidh is air na h-irisean is meadhanan riatanach a dh’fhoillsich an obair sa Ghàidhlig a-mhàin no san dà chànain.

Ged a b’ ann an gnèithean verse libre bu mhotha a thagh na bàird am faireachdainnean is an teachdaireachdan a chur an cèill, chaidh grunn gu cruth nan ceathramhan is cuid dhiubh sin a’ guidhe oirnn a bhith gan seinn.

Dhen 38 a dhiofar phìosan bàrdachd a chuireadh fam chomhair-sa, b’ iad na dhà a leanas a bu thoigh leam a shònrachadh: ‘Beinn Eadarra’ le Alasdair Caimbeul agus ‘Gàirnealachd’ aig Iain MacRàth.

English

After another long, challenging, tiring year, it was no surprise that themes of entrapment, longing and the desire for meaningful connection and freedom came to the fore in the poems of 2021. These were all certainly present with us engaging in the introspection of the continuing aspects of the pandemic, though others aimed to avoid this, entirely.

I read also about love and the lack of love – as you would be expected perhaps, and other poetry that was prepared to be satrirical or sardonic regarding politics, the weakness of humanity and the history that shapes our identities. My thanks to all of the writers for their energy and to the periodicals and vital media which published the work monolingually in Gaelic or bilingually.

Whilst it was in the verse libre genre that the majority of poets chose to express their emotions and messages, many turned to metred form with some of them spurring us on to sing them.

Of the 38 different pieces of poetry that were presented to me, the following two are those I would like to select: ‘Beinn Eadarra’ by Alasdair Campbell and ‘Gàirnealachd’ (‘Gardening’) by Iain MacRae.