Goonie
SHORTLISTED FOR FORWARD PRIZE BEST FIRST COLLECTION 2025
$23.25
- Paperback
80 pages
- Release Date
14 October 2025
Summary
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 LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE 2026
“Goonie is a boisterously brilliant collection that sings like the mother of all songbird…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781472158819 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1472158814 |
| Author: | Michael Mullen |
| Publisher: | Little, Brown Book Group |
| Imprint: | Corsair |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 80 |
| Release Date: | 14 October 2025 |
| Weight: | 91g |
| Dimensions: | 214mm x 134mm x 10mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
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’ *
About The Author
Michael Mullen
Michael Mullen is a queer poet, writer and spoken word artist from Glasgow. Writing in both Scots and Standard English, Mullen’s primary concern is Scotland - its languages and its people. Years of work in hospitality and later as a support worker has put ordinary people at the forefront of their poetry. Whether on the stage or the page, Mullen’s love of character and language champions identity whilst dissecting it. He was the co-winner of the Edwin Morgan Poetry Award 2023-4 as well as the Scottish National Slam runner up in 2022. He appeared on Life and Rhymes with Benjamin Zephaniah on Sky Arts and his work has been published in various places including Neu! Reekie! #NeuVoices, Bella Caledonia, Paisley Mill Magazine, Rymour Books, Glasgow City of Poets and Seahorse Publications. Goonie is their first collection.
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