The Workman’s Club presents
Hollie McNish & Michael Pedersen
December 14th
The Workman’s Club
An unforgettable evening of poetry and chat from award-winning poets Hollie McNish and Michael Pedersen. Expect strong language, gift-wrapped and ribboned in gorgeous poetry.
Hollie McNish is a poet whose live shows are not to be missed. After a run of sold out gigs across Europe, she is back with a brand new book tour for her latest release Virgin; at times hilarious, at times harrowing, always hopeful – a poetic love letter against the more nefarious effects of purity culture packed with stacks of honeycomb, hand holds and early morning light.
About Hollie
Hollie McNish is an award winning poet, writer and performer based between Glasgow and Cambridge. She was the first poet to record at Abbey Road Studios, London and won the Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry for her poetic parenting memoir ‘Nobody Told Me’, of which The Scotsman stated “The World Needs this Book”. She has published numerous further collections of poetry – Papers, Cherry Pie, Plum and most recently Slug and Lobster, both of which were Sunday Times bestsellers. Her new book Virgin, is out October 2025
“Funny, so smart and refreshingly honest” Sarah Millican
“Her writing is sublime” Ellie Taylor
“Makes me cry and howl with laughter” Paapa Essiedu
“Like Pam Ayres on acid” Lemn Sissay
About Michael
Michael Pedersen is a prize-winning Scottish poet and author. He is the Writer in Residence at The University of Edinburgh and the new Edinburgh’s Makar (Poet Laureate). His prose debut, Boy Friends, was published to rave reviews and was a Sunday Times Critics Choice. He’s unfurled three collections of poetry, the most recent being The Cat Prince & Other Poems – which won the Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Best Poetry 2023. Pedersen has been shortlisted for the Forward Prizes for Poetry and The Scottish National Book Awards, and won a Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship. Muckle Flugga his, Shetland-set, debut novel is published by Faber in May 2025.
“Uncommonly romantic, irreverent and, at times, laugh out loud funny.” Shirley Manson
“Enchanting… astonishingly compelling… sparklingly written… rare and to be treasured” Stephen Fry
“A master of words. He plays them like music.” Kae Tempest
“Lucid, lyrical, loaded, BOY FRIENDS is a love letter to friendship.” Jackie Kay
