​Malachy Tallack is an award-winning author and singer-songwriter, whose books – both fiction and non-fiction – explore questions about community, memory, and the relationship between people and places. He is from Shetland, and now lives in Fife. 

Illuminated by Water​

"Masterfully told"  Jeremy Wade
A book about fishing, written in part for those who do not fish, Illuminated by Water explores the appeal of this peculiar pastime, its intense joys and frustrations, the steadying effect it has, both at the water's edge and in the memory, and the contemplation of nature and landscape that comes with being an angler.

The Valley at the Centre of the World

"A desperately beautiful novel" Sara Baume
Set against the rugged west coast of Shetland, in a community faced with extinction, The Valley at the Centre of the World is a novel about love and grief, family and inheritance, rapid change and an age-old way of life. ​

The Un-Discovered Islands

"A joy to island-hop through the book"
National Geographic Traveller
Gathered in this book are two dozen islands once believed to be real but no longer on the map. Phantoms and fakes, myths and mysteries: an archipelago of ex-isles and forgotten lands. 

Sixty Degrees North

"The book's real power comes from Tallack’s poet’s eye."  The New York Times
Sixty Degrees North is a travel book and memoir, an exploration of the lands that lie along the sixtieth parallel, from Shetland to Greenland to Canada to Scandinavia. It is a story of community, grief, and the idea of home. 

​Recent recordings

​During 2020's Coronavirus lockdowns, Malachy recorded several songs with friends in Shetland. These songs were gradually pieced together at long distance, as each musician recorded (and filmed) their own parts at home.