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Here at Hands up For Trad we were glad tae wark wi Creative Scotland tae gie oot 14 grants o £700 tae Scots Language Creative fowk.
Ower the course o 2025, a hail slate o new Scots wark will be breengin ontae stages, braidcast on podcasts, pit oot oan Spotify or meetin fowk in care hames an community centres, thanks tae the Creatives wha have been fundit.
We’d love ye tae follae them oan social media, keep an ee oot for their projecks, or even just be inspired tae pit yer ain Scots leid tae wark in ae creative practise or anither. Here’s the leet o wir grant recipients.
In the Black Isle, a funded project called ‘Auchies Spikkin’ Auchie‘ will produce a live music performance in the village, drawing upon recordings of Scots-speaking older members of the Avoch dialect community.
In Perthshire, celebrated poet Jim C. Mackintosh will produce a podcast in Scots sharing some of the finest stories, songs and poems from the places Jim knows well. The podcasts will be released in collaboration with Scots Radio.
One of a number of Doric projects funded in the North East is ‘Wyvin Wyes’, produced by Kate Wilson. The project will visit craft groups, recording Doric voices as spoken in communities today, and also samples of what the groups are making.
Another is Doric ABC, or ‘Activity, Blethers, Community singing in Doric’ sessions in three Care Homes in Aberdeen. Jackie Ross of Doric Books will lead these events, engaging Doric speakers in creativity and conversation in their dialect.
In Huntly, Lucy Beth will bring a double-bill of live Scots language theatrical performances to the new creative space in the town, Number 30.
Fife-based writer and broadcaster Billy Kay has been funded to work with Galloway singer Robyn Stapleton to tour a Scots song and story event to book festivals around the country in 2025.
From Shetland, Claire White an Robbie Leask have been funded for ‘Da She in Shetland’, a multi-media concert planned for the Scottish International Storytelling Festival in October 2025 which will bring Shetland stories and voices to national and international audiences in Edinburgh.
In Dundee two projects were funded. Successful Scots Language performance night ‘Blether’ has been funded for the second year in a row, which will allow organisers Elfie Picket Theatre to continue these popular events.
Also funded is the Dundee-based project of Erin Farley and Lynne Campbell. FEIRT will be a 50 minute performance highlighting the horror that lies in the heart of the Scottish landscape, our traditions and history through stories and song. It will centre the Scots language as a key element that helps us explore our relationship with the eldritch and eerie.
Ayrshire singer/songwriter Seán Gray has been funded to create work putting the Scots poetry of Alex Barrowman and John Hassett to music and turning them into songs, before performing them to audiences.
In North-Lanarkshire a Scots language literary festival cawed “Gie It Laldy!” will be established thanks to these funds, hosted by and in North Lanarkshire Libraries, a big boost for Scots creatives and audiences in the region.
Scots Singer of the Year Beth Malcolm will work with musician Dorian Cloudsley to record and release a new Scots work exploring the legacy of Charles Darwin in Edinburgh.
In the Highlands, Eden Court Theatre have been supported to continue their bilingual writing competition Scrìobh | Scrieve which sees Scots creatives engage with the Kist o Riches archive to create new material.
A the Airts in Sanquhar and Cabin in Kirkconnel will host Kris Haddow’s funded project, a creative satirical show called Haud The Bus, a Nicht o Satire in Scots based on his columns in the local paper.
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