Goonie
SHORTLISTED FOR FORWARD PRIZE BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2025
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Little, Brown Book Group
Published:5th Jun '25
Should be back in stock very soon
SHORTLISTED FOR FORWARD PRIZE BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2025
WINNER OF THE LIST'S BEST RISING SCOTTISH AUTHOR AWARD 2025
NOMINATED FOR SCOTS LANGUAGE AWARD'S SCOTS BOOK OF THE YEAR 2025
SHORTLISTED FOR THE JOHN POLLARD FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL POETRY PRIZE 2026
'Goonie is a boisterously brilliant collection that sings like the mother of all songbirds' Michael Pedersen, author of The Cat Prince
'An absolute beauty of a book by an absolute beauty of a writer. Goonie is an essential tribute to life and fight and love and language' Hollie McNish, author of Lobster
'I've enjoyed Michael Mullen's poems since the moment I first encountered them. He is brave and funny, Glasgow-gallus and compassionate . . . Goonie announces a real new talent' Kathleen Jamie, author and former Scottish Makar
'This is gorgeous, maximalist poetry, playful and glittering but rooted in anger and honesty, a sensual Technicolor shot of Scots joy. I will be raving about this for years' Kirstin Innes, author of Scabby Queen
'These poems are tender weapons that will smash through any apathy that still remains towards the Scots language, they are pulsing with humour and wit but the reverence that Mullen gives to every day moments, characters and life make me realise there is always more to learn, more to see, deeper to go. I have no doubt Goonie is a new Scottish classic' Leyla Josephine, Forward Prize-winning poet
Goonie is the raw and joyful debut collection from award-winning Scottish poet and spoken word artist Michael Mullen.
Whether exploring queerness through fierce lyrical poetry or celebrating Mullen's beloved Scotland through vernacular vignettes, Goonie's main preoccupation is with how we form community around us and how community, in turn, forms us.
Many of the themes are encapsulated by the title poem as the narrator readies themself to take the stage and perform for their older relatives wearing an old goonie (a nightdress): 'Ma aunt raising her vodka Iron-Bru, a tumblr ae noxious flame, a toast / tae me, n ma frilly jig. Awk A jist lettum wear witever he wahnts tae wear.'
In Goonie, the oral tradition of Scots combines with whip-sharp Glaswegian humour to bring alive in language and form the full...
Brilliant and boisterous . . . A superb salute to life and the Scots language * Sunday Post *
Whether he is writing in Scots or standard English, Mullen's descriptive-imaginative faculties are captivating and painterly, well beyond what one would expect of a debut . . . Goonie's music is consistently and hypnotically lush in an unabashed celebration of queerness . . . This [is a] stunning collection . . . One to watch -- Oluwaseun Olayiwola * Guardian *
Rich, accomplished poetry . . .[Goonie] constantly draws us in with humour and pleasurable language, only to then trip us with heartfelt sincerity . . .This poet manages to shotgun glamour, spirit, and tenderness, through the thick, beautiful linguistic hide of Scottish poetry -- Cameron Wilson * Gutter Magazine *
Goonie is a boisterously brilliant collection that sings like the mother of all songbirds - stirring, salient, sword-sharp and sensational -- Michael Pedersen, author of The Cat Prince
An absolute beauty of a book by an absolute beauty of a writer. Goonie is an essential tribute to life and fight and love and language. Michael Mullen is an incredible poet, his love for his art form ignites every page. Every poetry lover should have a copy -- Hollie McNish
I've enjoyed Michael Mullen's poems since the moment I first encountered them. He is brave and funny, Glasgow-gallus and compassionate; he hears the said and the unsaid and the deeply felt. Goonie announces a real new talent
-- Kathleen Jamie, author and former Scottish MakarIt's fitting that Goonie ends with a tribute to Edwin Morgan as this glorious debut cements Michael Mullen's place as his spiritual successor. This is gorgeous, maximalist poetry, playful and glittering but rooted in anger and honesty, a sensual Technicolor shot of Scots joy. I will be raving about this for years -- Kirstin Innes, author of Scabby Queen
I adored this book. These poems make me homesick for a place I thought I knew, but now realise is holy.These poems are tender weapons that will smash through any apathy that still remains towards the Scots language, they are pulsing with humour and wit but the reverence that Mullen gives to every day moments, characters and life make me realise there is always more to learn, more to see, deeper to go. I have no doubt this book of poems is a new Scottish classic -- Leyla Josephine
A gorgeous, witty, mesmerising kaleidoscope of a book. These poems burst with linguistic energy and human understanding and sheer gladsomeness. A sharp-eyed, affinity-minded, big-hearted collection, as alive and contemporary as this very moment. With his adventurous, electrifying, risk-taking debut, Michael Mullen automatically and impressively establishes himself as Edwin Morgan's natural successor -- Kevin MacNeil
It's a fearless, joyous collection, one that absolutely confirms that the language Mullen uses matters as is the culture he celebrates. The poems about sex, queer lives, dirty rivers, tenaments, family house parties with Vodka Irn Brus and the Slosh are rich, wonderful, necessary and lifeaffirming * Vikki Reilly, The Scotsman, 'The Best Scottish Literary Debuts of 2025' *
ISBN: 9781472158819
Dimensions: 214mm x 134mm x 10mm
Weight: 80g
80 pages