Beyond sci-fi

The details of your story (15 
November) on the Gaelic science-fiction novelist Tim Armstrong and his award are pretty startling: American punk rocker comes to Edinburgh for a spell, has picked up some Gaelic, gets a job as a 
“research fellow” at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, the Gaelic college, gets funding for a sci-fi yarn in Gaelic, then gets a “first book” prize, courtesy of the Saltire Society.

It is all beyond parody, and far distant from any commercial reality. It is important to remember also that his publisher, Inverness-based Clar, is described in your report as “independent”. It is not – it is funded via the Gaelic Books Council, ie with public money.

Crawford Mackie

Loughborough Road

Kirkcaldy, Fife