{"id":7196,"date":"2026-08-31T09:02:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T08:02:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/?p=7196"},"modified":"2026-08-31T09:02:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T08:02:16","slug":"scots-language-awards-2026-michael-mullen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/scots-language-awards-2026-michael-mullen\/","title":{"rendered":"Scots Language Awards 2026: Michael Mullen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Weel duin tae Michael Mullen wha hae bin nominatit in Scots Writer o the Year (sponsored by the National Library of Scotland) in the Scots Language Awards. Vote now!<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

We askit Michael Mullen o Michael Mullen thae speirins. <\/p>\n

Tell us aboot yersel or yer ootfit.<\/strong>
\nA'm Michael Mullen frae Glesga. A'm a scriever n performer n ma buik ae poems wiz oot last June n wis cawed Goonie. A scrieve in Scots (maistly Glaswegian but experiment wae wurds n styles frae aw er thi place) n English anawl. A'm fond ae thi interpliy atween thi two n how this chainges character, class n perspective. It was important tae me thit A awiys write in a wiy thit representit folk aroon me n kept it alive at thi same time.<\/p>\n

Whit wis it got ye involvit wi the Scots leid?<\/strong>
\nIn a scrievin n performin sense it wis Burns. Lit so many ae us, he's thi first intro tae literary Scots. A mind it havin a magical, galvanizin feelin tae me n A awiys wahnted tae delve in deeper than jist the week runnin up tae Burns Night. It wisnae really til thi poet Tom Leonard n the novelist Jeff Torrington skelped me wae their particular brand ae Glaswegian that A thoat aboot thi styles n thi differences that Scots could offer n how it cin be used differently tae really represent aw ae oor country's wonderful differences.<\/p>\n

Why dae ye feel it is important tae use Scots in everyday life?<\/strong>
\nIt's important lit any language is, n mibbe mer cus it's been so stigmatised n discouraged. Language is connection: tae yer past, tae yer famely, yer hame, yer nation, yer culture, yer laughs, yer everyhin. A hink it's good tae keep it alive in yer mooth no jist tae connect tae other Scots speakers but tae bring people in, teach thaim whit thi wurds ur, whoever it is. Many ae ma pals wurnae born here n they tawk n understawn Scots n it's a gorgeous hing tae see n hear.<\/p>\n

Dae ye hae a favourite Scots phrase or saying?<\/strong>
\nA huv two. Ma fav is defos 'is yer cat deed?' but the wan A use thi maist is 'A'm hittin a badyin.'<\/p>\n

Is there a Scots speaker who inspires you?<\/strong>
\nA hink any writer who is oot n aboot the noo inspires me. There's so many amazing scrievers dain their hing in Scots. Taylor Dyson, Charles Laing, Colin Bramwell, Hannah Lavery. Thi list could go on furivir.<\/p>\n

Do you hear Scots spoken regularly in your local area? Have you noticed any changes over time?<\/strong>
\nA hink livin in a city lit Glesga there's obviously a fab mixture ae folk frae everywhere. There's still a loat ae Scots being spoke anawl n being spoke by people ae aw backgruns n accents, so it's no less, but different n malleable, lit aw language.<\/p>\n

Ony particlar career heighlichts<\/strong>
\nA wid huv tae say gittin nominatit fur the Forward Jerwood Prize For Best First Collection. There's awiys a worry thit scrievin in Scots folk ootisde ae Scotland might no like it ur get it, n it's no that A needit thi validation but tae see that folk fae different places respondit tae it anawl wis smashin. Aht made me feel a hud did A small bit fur gittin Scots oot n aboot where it might no huv been before.<\/p>\n

Wha’s yer plans fir the days aheid?<\/strong>
\nA'm currently scrievin ma first novel in Scots n set in Glesga. It's been a ball tae scrieve Scots oan thi page fur prose instead ae poyums, it's a different hing n ye cin dae mer wae the language n dialouge, so that hus been really interestin.<\/p>\n

Read more about Michael Mullen<\/a>
\n<\/a>
\nFacebook: http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/<\/a>
\nX \/ Twitter: @
\nInstagram: @michael poet mullen
\nTikTok: @<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

To attend the Scots Language Awards there are a few tickets remaining. Click here to reserve your tickets<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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 \u00a310.<\/p>\n

If you would like to support Hands Up for Trad in their work with Scottish language please consider donating here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Weel duin tae Michael Mullen wha hae bin nominatit in Scots Writer o the Year (sponsored by the National Library of Scotland) 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nominee-2026","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/files\/2026\/08\/New-Headshot.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phaZzh-1S4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7196"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7198,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7196\/revisions\/7198"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projects.handsupfortrad.scot\/scotslanguageawards\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}