Part one of Alasdair Gray's remarkable interpretation of Dante's La Divina Commedia, translated and sublimely decorated

A new and stimulating book which assesses the legacy of Scotland's national poet

'Is there some adventure out there that we are not having, some vividness, some wild pleasure, that we are not experiencing in our responsible, productive days?... We are bequeathed on earth one very short life, and it might be good, one of these days, to make sure that we are living it.'

In Praise of the Garrulous examines how language developed and was influenced by technology (mainly writing and printing). This raises some important questions concerning the "ecology" of language, and how any degradation it suffers might affect "not only our competence in organising ourselves socially and politically, but also our inner selves."

Full transcript of Ali Smith's Muriel Spark lecture, given in November 2017.

A fully up-to-date, comprehensive and clearly presented compact dictionary - the ideal reference aid for learners and speakers of Irish. Over 20,000 headwords Introduction to the use of Irish