Goonie

Goonie, the raw and joyful debut collection from award-winning Scottish poet and spoken word artist Michael Mullen, begs the question what is community? What do we owe it and what does it owe us? Whether exploring queerness through fierce lyrical poetry or celebrating Mullen's beloved Scotland through vernacular vignettes, Goonie's main preoccupation is how we form the community around us and how it, in turn, forms us. Many of the themes are encapsulated by the title poem as the narrator readies themselves to take the stage and perform for their older relatives wearing an old goonie (a nightdress). In Goonie, the oral tradition of Scots combines with whip-sharp Glaswegian humour to bring alive in language and form the full spectrum of human connection: working class friends gathering round a fire, a living room ceilidh, a queer awakening. These poems show the power of acceptance, togetherness and creative expression. Mullen's life as a performer and poet, a son, a Scot, a working-class kid, comes together on the page to deliver a collection that casts a sceptical eye on identity whilst championing it, Ultimately, Goonie address the ties that bind us and a testament to how love - of ourselves, our heritage, our landscape, each other - transforms everything.