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Kris Haddow

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Other contact method: Website: krishaddow.com
Local authority: Dumfries and Galloway
Languages: English, Scots
Kris Haddow's headshot

Kris is a Scottish playwright, poet and author.

Passionate about Scottish language, he has won awards for his poetry and prose written in Scots dialect. His poem On Times Austere was engraved in glass and installed at The Globe Inn, Dumfries alongside work by Robert Burns, after winning Windows for Burns Night in 2012. Ronnie's Story won the short story category of the 'see me' Scotland national writing competition in 2011.

Kris was a Scottish Book Trust Ignite Fellow in 2024, and received Creative Scotland Open Funding in 2025 to develop a memoir project, with mentorship from Granta’s Memoir Writing Workshop.

A graduate of the University of Glasgow's MLitt Creative Writing programme, he is currently a research candidate pursuing their DFA Creative Writing. Alongside his PhD thesis, which researches contemporary South West Scots, he is editing a collection of poetry and writing his first novel, When the Curlew Cries No More, which was shortlisted for the North Lit Agency Award 2021, before winning Bloody Scotland’s Pitch Perfect competition the same year.

Kris has regularly recited, spoken and sung at Burns Suppers and concerts across Scotland for over 20 years, and can deliver events with a strong Burns theme. He also regularly runs creative writing workshops, with a focus on writing dialect, writing in Scots, and on crafting ‘wee stories’ through the use of flash fiction and drama. Kris is also available as a panellist for events on these themes.

Local authorities will 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 will deliver

Mentoring; Panel event; Performance; Professional development, CLPL or CPD; Reading; Talk; Workshop

Audience will work with

Adult learners; People experiencing mental health problems

Topics of work

Biography & memoir; Comedy, humour & funny books; Contemporary fiction; Health including mental health & wellbeing; Loneliness & isolation; Mystery & thriller

Age groups published for

Teens; Adults

Age groups will work with

12-14; 15-18; 18+

Audience size

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