Aberdeenshire locals nominated for Scots Language Awards

The awards, which were first started in 2019, celebrate the importance of Scots language. (Pic: Alan Richardson)

A raft of Aberdeenshire locals and exciting projects have been recognised for their incredible contribution to the Scots language, having been nominated for a Scots Language Award 2023.

Teacher Jamie Fairbairn is nominated for Scots Speaker o the Year. Last year’s winner of Scots Champion o the Year and Principal Teacher of the Faculty of Humanities at Banff Academy, which won Scots School o the Year in 2020, Jamie has been championing the Scots leid at the school for over a decade, giving thousands of pupils the chance to engage with their local language over that time, and promoting Scots in the media wherever possible.

Media stars Aiberdeen Mannie, aka Duncan Dallas, and Shane Strachan are nominated for Scots Media Person o the Year. Duncan has amassed a following on Instagram through his humorous and relatable videos of life in Aberdeen, while Shane is this year’s Scots Scriever at the National Library of Scotland, and makes regular media appearances promoting the language.

Nominated in the Scots Performer o the Year category, singer, songwriter and electronic music producer Fiona Soe Paing has been making music since 2007. Her new album Sand, Silt, Flint uses the Doric dialect to explore her north-east roots.

Also nominated in this category is Emmah Chibesakunda, a 20-year-old psychology student at the University of Aberdeen who has performed in many shows and concerts in Aberdeen. Aberdeen actress Danielle Jam, who has starred in numerous stage and television productions, including Molly and Mack on Cbeebies, BBC’s Scot Squad, and Rona Munro's production of James IV: Queen of the Fight, is also in the running for Scots Performer o the Year.

Authors Gordon M Hay and Jo Gilbert, and Doric Books CIC are up for Scots Book o the Year for their works. Gordon won Scots Bairns Book o the Year at last year’s Scots Language Awards, and is the first person to translate the Bible into Scots.

Jo is a spoken word artist and writer whose debut poetry collection WTF is normal anyway? was released in August 2022, and in recent years they have worked on a number of projects and commissions with Stanza Poetry Festival, Aberdeen Performing Arts, Look Again Festival, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums, and the National Theatre of Scotland.

Doric Books CIC was founded by authors Aaron Gale and Jackie Ross with the aim of sharing and promoting stories in Doric so people, especially children, in the north east could read in their local dialect of Scots.

A collaboration between Doric Books CIC and Monymusk Primary School, Jock's Daunder Roon Monymusk is nominated for Scots Bairn’s Book o the Year. The pupils of primary 1-3 had a major input into the creation of the book, from co-writing the story to providing the illustrations and more.

Radio show TradTime wi TMSA on KCR.FM and Speakin’ Weird, an open mic spoken word event, are in the running for Scots Project o’ the Year. TradTime wi TMSA on KCR.FM started as a one-off show on the station and grew into a fortnightly fixture featuring people from the north east promoting the Scots language, from established stars to young people and talented local performers.

Speakin’ Weird was started in 2017 by Orla Kelly, a writer originally from Ireland who now lives in Aberdeen and wanted to see more performance opportunities in the city. The monthly spoken word night welcomes regular performers and newcomers alike to share their work.

The ceremony will take place at Johnstone Town Hall, in partnership with Renfrewshire Council, on Saturday, September 16.

Voting for this year’s Scots Language Awards closes on Sunday, September 10. Votes can be cast at www.scotslanguageawards.com.

Scotland’s traditional culture, music and arts organisation Hands Up For Trad organise the annual event, and organiser Simon Thoumire said: “We ur delichtit tae let ye ken the number o nominees fir the Scots Leid Awards submitit ower aa the sindrie categories haes bin jist grand!

"An its bin wunnerfu tae lairn aboot aa the fowk, some names we already kent, ithers new tae us, ettlin tae mak shuir oor braw Scots leid steys in guid hert. It haes nivver been mair importint tae acknowledge the fowk whaes wirk is keeping the leid tae the fore baith in thir daily lives an in its cultur, music an wirds. Sae mony nominations tae mak ye prood, an submitit as weel fae aa pairts o Scotland includin Aberdeenshire!

Tickets for the Scots Language Awards are available at renfrewshireboxoffice.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173641551