Bessie Skea

The writer Bessie Skea, also known as Bessie Grieve.Bessie Skea or Bessie Grieve (1923–1996) was a Scottish writer of prose and poetry. Inspired by her native Orkney Islands in the north of Scotland, her reputation grew from her regular contributions to The Orcadian newspaper under the name Countrywoman, and she went on to publish a number of books. She wrote mainly about the natural world and island life.

Life

Jemima Bessie Skea was born on 28 June 1923 on the island of Shapinsay where her mother Margaret was postmistress and her father John was a crofter and poet. She went to school there and started writing at the age of nine. In the first year of World War II she wrote about the "weirdly beautiful" light effects of the bombing raids on Scapa Flow. In 1942 she married Jim Grieve, who had been posted to a wartime battery at Salt Ness not far from her home and, after a couple of moves, they settled on Harray with their three children. and described places that were "never vividly recorded till now". He wrote introductions for some of her anthologies, and was her friend, as was the writer Ernest Marwick. As well as her columns she wrote short stories and poems.

Her style was "sharply honed, discerning, lyrical", "perceptive and poetic". She has been called "one of Orkney’s foremost literary figures".