Goonie

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

The debut poetry collection by queer writer and spoken word artist Michael Mullen. Goonie is a paean of working class life, queer triumph, community, and the sensual power of poetry.

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 spectrum of human connection: working class friends gathering round a fire, a living room ceilidh, an chat in the hairdresser's chair, a queer awakening. These poems show the power of acceptance, togetherness and creative expression.

All aspects of Mullen's life as a performer, a poet, a queer son, a Scot, a working-class boy, come together on the page to form a collection that casts a sceptical eye on identity whilst also cha

Author: Michael Mullen

Paperback Published 14 October 2025 90 pages

'Goonieis a boisterously brilliant collection that sings like the mother of all songbirds' Michael Pedersen, author ofThe Cat Prince

'An absolute beauty of a book by an absolute beauty of a writer.Goonieis an essential tribute to life and fight and love and language' Hollie McNish, author of Lobster