Occupation Poet Nationality British | Name Murray Young Spouse Zoe (m. ?–2009) | |
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Role Poet · murraylachlanyoung.co.uk Albums Vice & Verse, The Alien Balladeer Movies Vatel, Under Milk Wood, About a Boy Similar People Zoe, Roland Joffe, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz | ||
Poet Murray Lachlan Young treats us to some seagull poetry! #wrightstuff
Stages of My Life | Murray Lachlan Young (Norwich Playhouse)
Murray Lachlan Young (born 14 March 1969) is a British poet, stand-up performer, broadcaster, playwright, screenwriter and children’s author. He came to prominence during the Brit Pop era of the mid-1990s, when he became the only poet to sign a contract worth £1m.
Contents
- Poet Murray Lachlan Young treats us to some seagull poetry wrightstuff
- Stages of My Life Murray Lachlan Young Norwich Playhouse
- Personal life
- Performance
- Books
- Stage Film Dance Audio Recordings
- Broadcasting
- References
His work echoes the great rhymers Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and Gilbert and Sullivan, along with more alternative influences such as Grandmaster Flash, Tom Waits and Ian Dury.
His satirical commentaries can read like RD Laing in their philosophical intensity, whilst their subjects range from the vanities of celebrity and middle-class angst, to highlighting the absurdities of modern life.
Currently the poet in residence on BBC 6 Music radio station and touring the UK with his solo stand-up performance show, a retrospective of his work “How freakin’ Zeitgeist are you?” will be published on 20 April 2017.
There has been growing demand for Mr Young to be named as Britain's next 'Poet Laureate' and there is a Facebook page dedicated to this cause (Murray Lachlan Young Poet Laureate), although The Palace has yet to approve this position for him.
Personal life
Murray Lachlan Young was born the youngest of two boys in Washington DC, to a Scottish father and an English mother.
He was brought up in Sevenoaks in Kent, where he attended The Wilderness School for Boys, graduating from Salford University with a degree in Media Performance.
In 1998 he married singer Zoë Pollock and after moving to a smallholding near St Leonards-on-Sea, they had their first son Lore in 2000, followed by second son Flint McKenzie in 2004. The family moved to St Levan, Cornwall later in 2004, but separated in 2009.
In 2014 he married singer songwriter Elizabeth Cavendish and sets up home in Dalston, London, separating in 2016.
Murray currently lives in London.
Performance
Since Murray’s early shows supporting such acts as Julian Cope, the Pretenders and Dita von Teese on the music and cabaret circuit in London, live stand-up poetry has been a key part of his career.
Tom Hodgkinson, Editor of the Idler Magazine, writes “Murray is both an actor and a wit, a poet who can perform and a performer who can write poetry, rolled into one.”
Notable live solo shows include;
UK solo headline tours (2014 & 2016)
Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts (1996–present day - except 2015) MTV Music Awards, USA (1997) T in the Park Festival (1998 & 2001) Port Elliot Festival (2005–present day) Latitude Festival (2006, ’13 & ’15) Goodlife Festival (2013, ’14 & ’15) Brighton Festival (2014) The Wilderness Festival (2014) 6 Music Festival (2014–present day) Festival No 6 (2015–present day)
Poet in residence at The Union Club, Soho, London (1997–present day) Poet in residence at The Arts Club, Mayfair, London (2014–16)
Books
Collected Works
Vice & Verse (1997) Casual Sex and Other Verse (1997) How Freakin' Zeitgeist Are You? (2017)
Children’s Books
The Nine Dead Williams (2014) Modern Cautionary Tales For Children (In development) The Mystery of the Raddlesham mumps (In development) Collected Children’s Poems (In development)
Stage, Film, Dance & Audio Recordings
Stage
A Captive Audience (1992) The Fabulous Twister Brothers (1993) Modern Cautionary Tales for Children (2005) The Incomers (2013) Rehab (2016)
Film
Features
Under Milk Wood (Co-Written by, 2015) God’s Work (In development) The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps (In development) Summerset (Writing)
Shorts
Desideratum (1992) Little Sucker Thumb (Adapted by, 1993) Plunkett and McClean (Gallows poem, 1997) Annie McClue (2011) The Story Of Martin (Animation, In production) Lycra Dad (In production)
Dance
Enjoy Your Stay (2010) Taste (2015)
Audio Recordings
Live at Ronnie Scotts (1995) The Lost Album (1995) Simply Everyone’s Taking Cocaine (1997) Vice & Verse (1997) Casual Sex (1998) Murray Lachlan Young - Live (2011) The Alien Balladeer (2013)
Broadcasting
Radio
Poet in residence, the breakfast show, LBC (1996) Poet in residence, BBC 6 Music (2011–present day) Poet in residence, Saturday Live, BBC Radio 4 (2006–14)
Regular contributor to Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4 (1995–present day) Regular contributor to Kaleidescope, BBC Radio 4 (1995) Regular contributor to The Arts Show, BBC Radio 2 (2014–present day) Regular contributor to BBC Radio 5 Live, including special commissions for Test Match Special, Cheltenham Gold Cup and City v United (2012–15)
Scotland meet Murray Lachlan Young, BBC Radio 4 (2013) Alien Balladeer, BBC Radio 4 series (2014) The Symphony of Medinah, Narrator, BBC Radio 5 Live (2014) Cern, BBC World Service (2015)
Television
Murray Lachlan Young, MTV USA, series (1996) Vice Versa, BBC 2 television special (1997)
Regular contributor, The Wright Stuff, Channel (2014–present day) Contributor, Newsnight, BBC 2, (2014)