Malachy Tallack provides editorial and educational support at Find Your Words.
Malachy is the author of four books of fiction and creative non-fiction. His work has been widely praised by readers and critics, including in The New York Times, The Guardian and other outlets, and has been translated into six languages. He has spoken at over 100 book festivals and other events around the world. Malachy also has extensive experience as an editor and a literary mentor, and he regularly teaches writing workshops. He is from Shetland, and currently lives in Fife. Learn more about his work below, or by visiting his website. |
“A poet's eye"
The New York Times
Malachy Tallack has published four books, beginning in 2015 with Sixty Degrees North, about a series of journeys around the sixtieth parallel. It was a BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week. His second book, The Un-Discovered Islands, was named Illustrated Book of the Year at the 2017 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards.
Malachy's focus on themes such as place, memory and community continued with his first novel, The Valley at the Centre of the World, published by Canongate in 2018. A BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime, the novel was shortlisted for the Highland Book Prize and longlisted for the Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize. Author Sara Baume described the book as "achingly beautiful", while The Scotsman called it "life-affirming". Illuminated by Water (Doubleday/Penguin Random House), Malachy's most recent book, in 2022, was a return to non-fiction. It explored his lifelong obsession with fish, fishing and watery places. Shortlisted for the Richard Jefferies Award for outstanding nature writing, the book was "a perfect read", according to Countryfile magazine, and "masterfully told", in the words of television presenter Jeremy Wade. Alongside his books, Malachy has written essays and articles on a variety of subjects, including politics, literature, landscape and art. He received a New Writers Award from the Scottish Book Trust in 2014, and the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship in 2015. |
“Malachy Tallack is the real deal."
John Burnside
In addition to his writing, Malachy has more than eight years' experience as a magazine editor, first in print and then online. He is a careful and generous reader, attentive to a writer's own voice. He aims always to highlight and bring out the strengths in a piece of writing, not just identify its weaknesses. Working with an editor should be one of the most rewarding parts of the writing process. Having someone read your work closely and help you to make it shine: It can be a genuine pleasure.
For the past five years, Malachy has provided mentoring, both through the Scottish Book Trust's Ignite and Next Chapter Award schemes, and, on a voluntary basis, to marginalised and underrepresented writers. As a mentor, he offers ongoing encouragement, together with advice, editorial feedback and, when needed, just a friendly ear. He is an empathic listener, who knows all too well the challenges that writing involves.
Since his first book was published, Malachy has cherished the opportunity to share skills and techniques with other writers, as a teacher of short workshops and residential courses. He has taught at libraries, arts centres and book festivals, up and down the country, as well as at writing centres such as Moniack Mhor, Tŷ Newydd and Arvon Lumb Bank. Whatever the venue, and whatever the subject matter, Malachy brings his broad experience as an author and educator to the classroom.
For the past five years, Malachy has provided mentoring, both through the Scottish Book Trust's Ignite and Next Chapter Award schemes, and, on a voluntary basis, to marginalised and underrepresented writers. As a mentor, he offers ongoing encouragement, together with advice, editorial feedback and, when needed, just a friendly ear. He is an empathic listener, who knows all too well the challenges that writing involves.
Since his first book was published, Malachy has cherished the opportunity to share skills and techniques with other writers, as a teacher of short workshops and residential courses. He has taught at libraries, arts centres and book festivals, up and down the country, as well as at writing centres such as Moniack Mhor, Tŷ Newydd and Arvon Lumb Bank. Whatever the venue, and whatever the subject matter, Malachy brings his broad experience as an author and educator to the classroom.