June is the month of Pride which celebrates and remembers the Stonewall Riots which ended in June 1969. Pride is normally recognised by the LGBTQ+ community coming together for marches and parades, however, due to the current restrictions placed upon us by Covid-19 these events have been canceled. Other events have been canceled as a mark of respect to the Black Lives Matter movement.
We can still learn about LGBTQ+ history through our literature; Scotland has a number of established writers and poets who identify as LGBTQ+.
Scottish Word has put together this list of eight established LGBTQ+ Scottish writers and poets:
Carol Ann Duffy
The Glasgow born poet is a professor of contemporary poetry at the Manchester Metropolitan University. She was appointed Britain's Poet Laureate in 2009, however, she resigned from the role in 2019. She was the first Scot, first woman, and first LGBT poet to hold the position.
Her poems explore gender issues and social inequality with some of her work focusing on LGBTQ+ topics. In August 2010 she wrote 'Vigil' in memory of LGBTQ+ people who had lost their lives to HIV/AIDS. She also published 'After Orlando: Gay Love' in June 2016 as a response to the Orlando shooting at Pulse, a gay nightclub, where 49 people were killed and dozens more were injured. Duffy has many more poems that look at LGBTQ+ themes, and she has arguably shaped the creative scene.
Ronald Frame
Born and educated in Glasgow and then later at Oxford University, Frame is a novelist, short story writer, and dramatist. 'The Lantern Bearers' was published in 1999 and depicts a young boy's homosexual awakening in a time when being gay was criminalised in Scotland. It was nominated for a Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award, an award that recognises exceptional merit relating to the LGBTQ+ experience.
Jackie Kay
This poet and novelist was born in Edinburgh to a Scottish mother and Nigerian father. She was then adopted by a Scottish couple, the Kays, and brought up in the suburbs of Glasgow. Throughout school, Kay suffered from racism and this can be seen through her work, such as 'The Adoption Papers', which often deals with themes of race and identity.
Her debut novel 'Trumpet' portrays the story of Joss Moody, a fictional and famous black jazz musician. It is only after Moody's death that the truth about him emerges, that he was born female and he is transgender. The story focuses on identity and how the unraveling of Moody's secret affects his family.
In 2016 she was appointed as Scotland's Makar and has won many awards for her work.
Val McDermid
Val McDermid is a Scottish crime writer who originally worked as a journalist. She was a trainee journalist in Plymouth before working at the Daily Record in Glasgow. McDermid then worked as a reporter for Sunday People in Manchester, as one of three women out 137 reporters. It was while she was working at the People in Manchester that she wrote 'Report for Murder' and after its success she left journalism to pursue a career as a writer. In an interview with The Guardian, McDermid explains that her books "have never been about being a lesbian". Despite her not writing about LGBTQ+ issues it is important to remember McDermid as a Scottish LGBTQ+ creative and praise her as such.
Edwin Morgan
This year marks the centenary of Edwin Morgan's birth. He was born and educated in Glasgow and worked as a lecturer in English Literature at Glasgow University. Morgan was the first to be appointed the role of Scotland's Makar in 2004.
He wrote many books, including poetry, essays, and translations for which he received awards such as the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry and the Weidenfield Prize for Translation. Until 1980 it was illegal to be gay in Scotland, and Morgan did not come out until 1990 when he was 70 years old. His poem 'Glasgow Green' reflects this as he highlights the dangers of being gay and how many men had to hide their true lives from their families. Morgan had to be incredibly discreet about being gay in his poetry and the love subjects were often ungendered. This would have made his work very dangerous at the time and he raised many social issues through his poetry.
Ali Smith
Ali Smith was born and raised in Inverness, she later attended Aberdeen University to study English language and literature. She is a novelist, playwright, poet, and journalist who gave up her teaching position at Strathclyde University due to chronic fatigue syndrome so she could focus on her writing.
Smith's 2007 novel 'Girl Meets Boy' was published as part of Canongate's Myths Project which involved rewriting a myth. In her book, Smith retells Ovid's myth of Iphis, a biological girl raised as a male. Ianthe falls in love with Iphis who is then transformed by the Gods so the two can marry. Smith's reinterpretation depicts the story of Robin and Anthea while exploring the ideas of identity and homophobia as well as conscientious objection and corporate social responsibility.
Zoë Strachan
Zoë Strachan is a novelist who was raised in Kilmarnock and later moved to Glasgow. She now lectures in Creative Writing at the University of Glasgow and lives with her partner, fellow writer, Louise Welsh. LGBTQ+ writing, Scottish literature, and feminism are the research areas she is most interested in.
Strachan edited 'Out There: An Anthology of Scottish LGBT Writing' in 2014. It is a collection of short stories, poems, and non-fiction pieces that place gay men and lesbian women at the centre of the story. Ali Smith, Ronald Frame, Louise Welsh, and, Jackie Kay all contribute, along with many other gay writers from Scotland.
Louise Welsh
Although Louise Welsh was born in London, she resides in Glasgow and could be described as a Scottish writer. Her debut novel 'The Cutting Room' is set in Glasgow and follows Rilke, a promiscuously gay auction worker, who finds an extensive library of pornography while appraising the deceased person's belongings. Amongst this library, Rilke finds photos that suggest 'snuff' pornography, and he tries to find out who the girl really was and if she survived. This book was also nominated for a Stonewall Book Award-Barbara Gittings Literature Award.
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