Gary Robertson is a Scottish poet, musician, and author from Dundee, self-styled as the "Dundee Street Poet".
Biography
editA fitness fanatic,[1] Robertson has previously climbed all 284 of the Munros.[2] He was the eventual winner of the first series of the BBC television reality show SAS: Are You Tough Enough?[3] After self-funding the publication of SAS 11 Days In A Hell Called Paradise, an autobiographical account of his experience on the show, he became a poet and author. He has so far focused on life for young people growing up in Dundee,[2] and on street poetry in the characteristic Dundonian dialect.
Robertson wrote the book Gangs Of Dundee,[3] an historical account of the gang culture that developed in the post-war Dundee housing schemes of the 1960s onwards.[4] He later presented a programme on BBC Radio Scotland on this subject.[5]
Robertson's street poetry was used[1] in the short documentary Young Anes depicting the life of a struggling young mother in Dundee, which was shortlisted for the best short documentary award at the 2006 Edinburgh International Film Festival.[6] His first collection of poetry was printed in the book Pure Dundee.[7] Along with Mark Thomson also from Dundee, Robertson is the other half of the Tribal Tongues poetry performing duo.[1]
In 2007, Robertson co-founded the Scots language punk band "The Cundeez".[8][9]
Robertson's other published works includes "Skeem Life", a look at life in Dundee housing schemes, and a biography of ex-Dundee United player Ralph Milne.[citation needed] He lives in the suburb of Fintry in Dundee.[citation needed]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ a b c "Young Anes - an Urban Documentary". Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
- ^ a b www.allmediascotland.com Media Agency Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Rhymes Come Straight Fae Dundee Schemes, 14 December 2007
- ^ a b Daily Record Scotland's Gangs, 15 February 2008
- ^ Robertson, Gary (1 October 2007). Gangs of Dundee. Luath Press Ltd. ASIN 1906307024.
- ^ "Street Gangs of Dundee".
- ^ BBC News Dundee film shortlisted for award, 29 July 2006
- ^ Luath Press Limited Listing for Pure Dundee
- ^ "Gary Robertson - Made in Dundee". City Life Dundee. 27 December 2019. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
- ^ The Cundeez Interview, retrieved 5 February 2024
External links
edit- Young Anes web page
- The Dundee Poet's MySpace page