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Alan McClure

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Contact: alanmcclure70@hotmail.com
Local authority: Dumfries and Galloway
Languages: English, Scots
Alan McClure's headshot

I’m a songwriter, poet and novelist with more than twenty years’ experience as a performer and presenter, from the Edinburgh Fringe to the Wigtown Book Festival.

As a primary school teacher I’ve educated young folk for a decade, using music, story and a fascination with the natural world as a route in to almost any subject imaginable. I have led storytelling, songwriting and poetry workshops for adults and have been part of the Doctor Megaphone science outreach education team, touring Ireland and Scotland, including the Edinburgh Science Festival.

I have a background in Zoology and have been fortunate to work in Zambia and Peru – these experiences have informed a lot of my work. I am passionate about encouraging reluctant readers and writers. I’ve performed at dozens of festivals, including the Wickerman, Eden and Big Lit, and I have undertaken author visits to a number of schools around the South West of Scotland.

I’ve had poems published in Poetry Scotland, short stories published by Momaya Press, and my first novel, Callum and the Mountain, was shortlisted for the Kelpies Prize. It has since been published to critical acclaim and has been noted for its use of Scots vocabulary, its connection to landscape and nature and its humour.

(Photo credit: Zenspirations Photography and Design)

Local authorities can visit

Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Argyll and Bute; Clackmannanshire; Dumfries and Galloway; Dundee; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Lothian; East Renfrewshire; Edinburgh City; Falkirk; Fife; Glasgow City; Highland; Inverclyde; Midlothian; Moray; Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles); North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; Renfrewshire; Scottish Borders; Shetland; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; Stirling; West Dunbartonshire; West Lothian

Events can deliver

Performance; Reading; Residency; Talk; Workshop; Professional development, CLPL or CPD

Audience can work with

Adult learners; English as an additional language (EAL); Outdoor learning; Reluctant readers; Young people in the community (e.g. Youth clubs, Guides, Scouts)

Topics of work

Adolescence; Adventure; Ageing; Animals; Childhood; Coasts, seas & oceans; Comedy, humour & funny books; Contemporary fiction; Environment & climate; Fairy tales, folklore & mythology; Family; Fantasy; Friendship; Gender equality; Music; Nature; Rhyming books for younger readers; Rural communities; Science; Self-publishing & independent publishing

Age groups published for

Children; Teens; Adults

Age groups can work with

9-11; 12-14; 15-18; 18+

Audience size

0-10; 11-30; 31-100; 100-500; 500+