About

Robin A Crawford was born in Glasgow. He has a B.A. (Fine Art) having studied sculpture at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Dundee.

‘Self Portrait as a Roman’ plaster and flotsam collected from Broughty Ferry beach.c.1985

St.Martin’s Stone, Angus 10th C. This monolith is carved with a cavalryman- said to represent St.Martin- and a serpent stands in a field north of Dundee. Photographed 1986.

He also discovered a passion for outdoor sculpture and writing about art, his dissertation was entitled ‘Sculpture in the Scottish Landscape’. This love of art has led him to occupations over the years such as cataloguing the print collection at the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasow; lecturing for Continuing Education Department at the University of Edinburgh on the history of art; and giving lunchtime talks on the paintings in the National Galleries of Scotland.

His love of books has seen him working as bookseller and bookshop manager for Waterstones (it used to have an apostrophe) in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leith, Perth and Dundee.

As a failed sculptor working in the booktrade he was never gripped by the desire to write and be published that drove so many of his bookselling colleagues but a happenstance conversation with Angie, his wife and fellow bookseller, one day lead him to become an author. On holiday on her home island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides they were passing one of the distinctive mounds of peat stacked outside a croft he casually commented to her that someone ought to write a book about these sculptures in the Scottish landscape. “On you go then,” she challenged and so, because he loves her and wanted to impress her, he did. The result ‘Into The Peatlands: a journey through the moorland year’, which he also illustrated, was published by Birlinn in 2018.

(Postscript: as far as he is aware though, she has never actually read his book).

‘Cauld Blast and Clishmaclavers: A Treasury of 1,000 Scottish Words’, Elliott & Thompson, 2020 is his second book. It arose directly from a conversation with the publisher Lorne Forsyth about a beautiful illustrated Scottish book that would sit on shop till points and sell as a gift to tourists in the summer and to the home market at Christmas.

Robin lives in Fife with Angie, three cats and sometimes a couple of sons. He works part-time in an independent bookshop in StAndrews, gardens, makes things, goes for walks, reads and writes.