Michael Pedersen and Chris McQueer: Muckle Masculinities
Scottish writers Michael Pedersen and Chris McQueer are joined by Nicola Sturgeon to discuss their compelling 2025 debut novels Muckle Flugga and Hermit , which both explore isolation and masculinity in unique ways. Pedersens Muckle Flugga details life on a remote island which is quickly turned upside down by the arrival of a stranger, testing bonds of family and tradition, and leaving the future of a young dreamer hanging in the balance. McQueers Hermit explores the intricacies of masculinity, misogyny, and loneliness through the character of Jamie Skelton who hasnt left the house in months and is becoming slowly drawn into the dangerous world of incel culture...
Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning author, the Edinburgh Makar / Poet Laureate and Writer in Residence at Edinburgh University. His prose debut, Boy Friends , was published by Faber & Faber to rave reviews, and was a Sunday Times Critics Choice. His third collection, The Cat Prince & Other Poems , won the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Poetry 2023. Pedersen has been shortlisted for the Forward Prizes for Poetry and The Saltire Scottish National Book Awards, and won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. His work has attracted praise from the likes of: Stephen Fry, Bernardine Evaristo, Irvine Welsh, Kae Tempest, & many more. His debut novel, Muckle Flugga, was published by Faber in May 2025.
Chris McQueer is the acclaimed author of the short story collections Hings and HWFG . Stories from Hings were adapted for TV by Chris and shown on BBC Scotland, and he's presented the documentaries Noteworthy with Chris McQueer and Let's Talk About the English , and has also appeared on A View From the Terrace and Damian Barr's Big Scottish Book Club . He won the award for Outstanding Literature at the Herald Scottish Culture Awards 2019 and has had two plays staged. He currently teaches creative writing and English to prison inmates. He lives just outside Glasgow. Hermit is his first novel.
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