Weel duin tae Tippermuir Books wha hae bin nominatit in Scots in Business in the Scots Language Awards. Vote now!
The 2026 Scots Language Awards tak place on Saturday 19th September at the iconic Discovery Centre, home of the RRS Discovery Ship (1pm). Reserve yer ticket here.
The awards will be a daytime event this year, making them as inclusive and accessible to as many award nominees from across Scotland as possible.
We askit Paul S Philippou o Tippermuir Books thae speirins.
Tell us aboot yersel or yer ootfit.
Tippermuir Books is a Central Scotland-based publisher with the aim of producing worthwhile, educational, and popular books in English and Scots. It publishes Scottish-themed (fiction and non-fiction), Scots language, and poetry. Tippermuir has published 82 books to date and has another dozen planned. Many of Tippermuir’s published works are in Scots and have achieved acclaim. Beyond the Swelkie (2021), a volume of poetry and short prose in English, Scots, and Gaelic, dedicated to the Orcadian poet George Mackay Brown, has received great praise. Matthew Mackie’s translation into Scots of the German children’s classic, Vom kleinen Maulwurf as The Tale o the Wee Mowdie that wantit tae ken wha keeched on his heid, has been a success and was shortlisted for ‘Scots Bairns Book o the Year’ 2019. In 2020, with the help of the Scottish Book Trust, Tippermuir published The Nicht Afore Christmas, which was shortlisted for ‘Scots Bairns Book o the Year’. In 2023, Tippermuir was shortlisted as ‘Scots Business o the Year’ as well as having books shortlisted for ‘Scots Bairns Book o the Year’ (Guid Mornin! Guid Nicht! – the first children’s book in Scots to show representation of LGBTQ+ family life) and ‘Scots Book o the Year’ (The Banes o the Turas). Guid Mornin! went on to be named ‘Scots Bairns Book o the Year’. Tippermuir’s The Lass and The Quine is the first original LGBTQ+ children’s book in Scots, and was shortlisted for ‘Scots Bairns Book o the Year’ in 2025.
Whit wis it got ye involvit wi the Scots leid?
Tippermuir has been working with and publishing books in the Scots language since 2017. In that time, it has produced books that have been shortlisted for several Scots Language Awards. For example, The Tale o the Wee Mowdie – Shortlisted for ‘Scots Bairn’s Book of the Year’ 2019 and The Nicht Afore Christmas – ‘Shortlisted for Scots Bairns Book of the Year’ 2021; in 2023, Tippermuir was shortlisted in three Scots Language Awards categories – ‘Scots Bairn’s Book of the Year’, ‘Scots Business of the Year’ and ‘Scots Book of the Year’, and was successful in that Guid Mornin! Guid Nicht! was declared ‘Scots Bairn’s Book of the Year’. These books are important and needed, but expensive to produce and require creative (financial) support. Importantly, Guid Mornin! Guid Nicht! is the first children’s book in Scots to reflect the diversity of modern Scotland and to include LGBTQ+ family life, and was followed by The Lass and the Quine, a Creative Scotland supported book.
Since 2017, Tippermuir has gained extensive knowledge of the children’s Scots Language book market and the demand for it, both individual/family purchasers and schools. Because Tippermuir produces Scottish-themed books, it has formed good relationships with many bookshops across Scotland and knows what kind of books sell and where demand more for them is located. In addition, Tippermuir has historical and current sales figures and analyses of these figures that evidence a strong demand for Scots Language books for children. Scottish Government legislation on the Scots Language has helped this, and the same can be said for the Scots Language Publication Grant and the Scots Language Awards.
Tippermuir has interacted with organisations involved with the Scots Language and has got to know many of the individuals involved. This has led to opportunities and the widening of ‘demand knowledge’. For example, in 2025 Tippermuir partnered with Thomas Clark, Scots Book o the Year author in 2023, to produce a Scottish Government funded book for use in teaching the Scots Language in schools, The Wheesht: The Best O Scots Hoose Yaldi.
Why dae ye feel it is important tae use Scots in everyday life?
Scots is one of Scotland’s indigenous languages, one with which Tippermuir has award-winning expertise. In undertaking Scots language publishing, Tippermuir draws upon its own experience and expertise but also brings in other Scots Language practitioners and organisations to assist. For Tippermuir, using Scots every day improves our editorial skills, which in turn should, we hope, see us produce better Scots language books.
As an indigenous language, Scots needs to live to survive and grow. Tippermuir endeavours to be part of that survival and growth.
Dae ye hae a favourite Scots phrase or saying?
Tippermuir loves the word outwith. There are many circumstances in which it is the perfect description. But for Tippermuir, what it enjoys most is that when it uses Microsoft WORD or other software, they refuse to acknowledge it as a legitimate word, let alone add it to a dictionary. Outwith is a word that is central to the Scots leid, perfectly acceptable in English writing whilst remaining outside English language dictionaries and word processors working in said language; in other words, it lies outwith, which is some form of paradox or tautology.
Is there a Scots speaker who inspires you?
Tippermuir has been impressed by Len Pennie's growth and importance as a Scots language advocate and poet. As a publisher, Tippermuir has much admiration for Thomas Clark and his contributions over many years. And there are many others. That said, having been at the centre of the William Soutar Project and having produced the first two volumes of the Complete Works, Poetry, it is Soutar who inspires us and has inspired us from the very start.
Do you hear Scots spoken regularly in your local area? Have you noticed any changes over time?
Most people in Perth speak a bit of Scots, even those who have settled in the city recently or for whom English is not their first language.
Tippermuir runs a monthly poetry drop-in, Howl, and has noticed an increase in poets writing in Scots.
Ony particlar career heighlichts
Career highlights: Guid Mornin! Guid Nicht! declared ‘Scots Bairn’s Book of the Year’. And, most recently, publishing Ayont the Thistle: A collection of poetry and prose published to mark the centenary of Hugh MacDiarmid’s landmark 1926 poem, A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle: 'Published in 1926 in an edition of just 500 copies, Hugh MacDiarmid’s A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle was a bold modernist experiment: a book-length poem addressing the human condition, written entirely in Scots. Although not reissued for nearly three decades, it has since acquired the status of a key text of Scottish literature. This anthology marks the centenary of what is often claimed as MacDiarmid’s masterpiece. Through essays, poems, reflections and other creative responses, more than 70 writers from around the world explore the poem’s language, structure and imagery, its power and its provocations. By turns admiring, sceptical, and sharply critical, these diverse contributions reveal a work that remains startlingly alive a hundred years after its first appearance.
Wha’s yer plans fir the days aheid?
Tippermuir is currently working with Shane Strachan and Ashley Douglas on the sequel to The Lass and The Quine, The Lad and The Loon, as well as working with Robert Crawford on a Scots language novel, The Big Hoose; three rising Scots language stars. Plus, we need to ensure we get a few votes in the Scots Language Awards.
Read more about Tippermuir Books
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The Scots Language Awards are in Dundee on the 19th September at 1pm. There wull be some grand entertainmint includin a recitals fae Yvonne Tait an Hugh Macmillan alang wi musical performances fae Iona Fyfe and Scott Gardiner.
To attend the Scots Language Awards there are a few tickets remaining. Click here to reserve your tickets.
Join Elfie Picket Theatre for the Scots language nicht BLETHER, fur a nicht o music, poetry and stories aa celebratin Scots Leid & culture. We hae twa special guests jynin us and a wee open mic. Leadin us intae a big Dundee Fringe Ceilidh! Startin at 6pm, tickets £10.
If you would like to support Hands Up for Trad in their work with Scottish language please consider donating here.