Performance poet Len Pennie is a big deal on the social media, particularly TikTok, where her Scots Word of the Day videos, forthright, urgent poetry and wicked sense of humour have made her a bona fide star.

Published by Canongate on February 22, her debut poetry collection, Poyums, she covers a lot of ground, from depression and mental health to misogyny and abusive relationships. If that all sounds bleak, well, the topics are, but Len’s honesty, rawness, humour and playfulness of language make her poems anything but. 

She chatted to our Mick about all of the above, the joy and importance of Scots language, and the problem with “nice guys”. 

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