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Murray Lachlan Young | |
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![]() Murray Lachlan Young, Glastonbury Festival, 2019 | |
Born | United States | 14 March 1969
Occupation | Poet |
Nationality | British |
Website | |
www |
Murray Lachlan Young (born 14 March 1969) is British poet, playwright, author and screenwriter. He came to prominence in the mid-1990s with his unique performances, more aligned to popular culture than traditional poetry, which led to him to a recording contract with EMI, making him the first, and only poet to secure a deal worth £1million. [1]
Young graduated from the University of Salford with a degree in Media Performance. [2] In 1998, he married singer Zoë Pollock and moved to Cornwall with their two children. [3] He has since returned to live and work in London.
Since his early UK shows supporting music and cabaret acts such as the Pretenders, Julian Cope and Dita von Teese, Murray has used the language and rhythm of poetry in his writing and performance, using popular culture platforms to present his work to a wider audience.
Encompassing everything from live performances at music and arts festivals, including the main stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 1996, [4] to MTV USA, EMI records and 6 Music Radio as well as television programmes such as Newsnight [5] and The Wright Stuff, [6] introducing poetry and verse into non-traditional situations has been key to his career.
He is the author of five published books, ten produced stage productions and two full length feature films, with a number of projects – stage, books and film – currently in development.
Murray has also written for The Guardian, The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Idler Magazine and The Erotic Review amongst others and has acted in films including Plunkett & MacLeane (1999), Vatel (2000) and About A Boy (2002).
He co-founded The Crap Surfer movement in 2004, in 2012 Mick Jagger presented Keith Richards with a CD of Murray's poem that marked the anniversary of Keith falling out of a coconut tree and in 2017 The Cornishman newspaper voted him the 34th Sexiest Person in Cornwall.
Glastonbury Festival [7] [8] | 1996 - Present |
MTV Music Awards, USA | 1997 |
The Union Club, London - Poet in residence | 1997 - Present |
T in the Park Festival | 1998 - 2001 |
Port Elliot Festival | 2005 - 2020 |
Latitude Festival | 2006 - 2015 |
Goodlife Festival | 2013 - 2015 |
UK Headline Tour | 2014 |
The Wilderness Festival | 2014 |
Brighton Festival | 2014 |
BBC Radio 6 Music Festival | 2014 - Present |
Festival No 6 | 2015 - 2019 |
The Arts Club, London - Poet in residence | 2014 - 2016 |
UK Headline Tour | 2016 |
Vice & Verse [9] | 1997 | EMI Books |
Casual Sex and Other Verse [10] | 1997 | Bantam Books |
The Nine Dead Williams [11] | 2014 | Switched On Publishing |
How Freakin' Zeitgeist Are You? [12] | 2017 | Unbound Books |
The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps [13] | 2018 | Scotland Street Press |
A Captive Audience * | 1992 | Salford University |
The Fabulous Twister Brothers * | 1993 | Salford University |
Modern Cautionary Tales for Children [14] ** | 2007 | UK Tour |
Enjoy Your Stay * | 2010 | CScape Dance Theatre UK Tour |
The Incomers [15] * | 2013 | Phoenix Theatre, Exeter (Extended Run) |
Taste [16] * | 2015 | CScape Dance Theatre UK Tour |
The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps [17] ** | 2019 | UK Tour - Theatre Royal Bath & Various |
Rehab The Musical [18] * | 2022 | Playground Theatre, London (Extended Run) |
The Chronicles of Atom & Luna [19] * | 2022 | UK Tour - Funnelwick Limb Productions |
Modern Cautionary Tales for Children [20] ** | 2024 | UK Tour - Various |
Rehab The Musical [21] * | 2024 | Neon 194, London (Extended Run) |
The Chronicles of Atom & Luna [22] * | 2024 | UK Tour - Funnelwick Limb Productions |
Plunkett and McClean - gallows poem scene [23] | 1999 | Working Title Films |
Annie McClue [24] | Short 2011 | The Queen |
Under Milk Wood - adapted by [25] | 2015 | fFatti fFilms (BAFTA entry to foreign language Oscars) |
Lycra Dad [26] | Short 2018 | Dadbod Films |
The Apple Tree | 2025 | IN.2 Films |
Live at Ronnie Scotts | 1995 | Almo Sounds |
Simply Everyone’s Taking Cocaine [27] | 1997 | Almo Sounds |
Vice & Verse [28] | 1997 | EMI Records |
Casual Sex | 1998 | Self Release |
Murray Lachlan Young - Live | 2011 | Self Release |
The Alien Balladeer [29] | 2013 | Self Release |
The Mystery of the Raddlesham-mumps [30] | 2020 | Funnelwick Limb |
Tales From The Forest (with Paul Hartnol) [31] | 2020 | Funnelwick Limb |
The Edge of reason - Blabbermouth vs Lachlan Young [32] | 2020 | Bandcamp |
The Virus Diaries - with Paul Hartnell (Orbital) [33] [34] [35] [36] | 2022 | Hartnell & Young Records |
The Breakfast Show - Poet in residence | 1996 | LBC |
Murray Lachlan Young - Television Series [37] | 1996 | MTV USA |
Vice & Verse - Television Special | 1997 | BBC Two TV |
6 Music - Poet in Residence [38] [39] | 2011 - 2022 | BBC Radio 6 Music |
Saturday Live - Poet in Residence [40] | 2006 - 2014 | BBC Radio 4 |
Loose Ends - Regular Contributor [41] | 1995 - present | BBC Radio 4 |
Kaleidescope - Regular Contributor [42] | 1995 | BBC Radio 4 |
Newsnight [43] | 2014 | BBC Two TV |
The Arts Show - Regular Contributor [44] | 2014 - present | BBC Radio 2 |
Radio 5 Live - Regular Specials | 2012–2015 | BBC Radio 5 Live |
Scotland meet MLY - Radio Special [45] | 2013 | BBC Radio 4 |
Alien Balladeer - Series [46] | 2014 | BBC Radio 4 |
The Symphony of Medinah - Narrator [47] | 2014 | BBC R5 Live |
The Wright Stuff - Regular Contributor | 2014 – present | Channel 5 TV |
Cern - Radio Special [48] | 2018 | BBC World Service |
Peak Hype [49] | 2019 | BBC Radio 4 |
The Virus Diaries - Series with Paul Hartnell [50] | 2020 | BBC 6 Music |
Lyrics By - Series Host [51] | 2023 | BBC 6 Music |