Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
@kittyjomac.bsky.social
Writing poetry | Debut collection: 'The Bone Folder', Drunk Muse Press 2024 | Shortlisted for Saltire Awards & Bridport 2025 | Winner McLellan Prize 2025, Saboteur Award 2023 | Board Moniack Mhor | Poet in Residence UHI | linktr.ee/caitjomac
Pinned
A gift to have this peedie #poem honoured in The Scotsman. These lines are themselves an honouring of tenderness, shown to me at a time of personal devastation. The poem & some notes about what inspired its becoming feature on the lucent 'Raising the Fifth' too raisingthefifth.co.uk/little-stabs...
❤ Saltire Book Awards
Immense thanks to the judges for their generous readings of 'The Bone Folder', and to everyone who has been part of shaping the poems that fill it; all of you who have read and given time to those words.
Immense thanks to the judges for their generous readings of 'The Bone Folder', and to everyone who has been part of shaping the poems that fill it; all of you who have read and given time to those words.
October 25, 2025 at 10:05 AM
❤ Saltire Book Awards
Immense thanks to the judges for their generous readings of 'The Bone Folder', and to everyone who has been part of shaping the poems that fill it; all of you who have read and given time to those words.
Immense thanks to the judges for their generous readings of 'The Bone Folder', and to everyone who has been part of shaping the poems that fill it; all of you who have read and given time to those words.
In the midst of all the other wondrous poetry news, I was so pleased to have been shortlisted in this year's #Bridport #Poetry Prize. There were some outstanding poets on the list & an astounding winner, placed and commended poets' list too. Immense congratulations to all!
October 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Gorgeous to see 'The Bone Folder' shortlisted in the 'The Saltires' #Book Awards. Thanks to my publishers Drunk Muse Press & to each of you for your encouragement. All #poems would be lonely without their readers 💚
Good luck to everyone shortlisted 🙌
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
Good luck to everyone shortlisted 🙌
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Gorgeous to see 'The Bone Folder' shortlisted in the 'The Saltires' #Book Awards. Thanks to my publishers Drunk Muse Press & to each of you for your encouragement. All #poems would be lonely without their readers 💚
Good luck to everyone shortlisted 🙌
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
Good luck to everyone shortlisted 🙌
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
Amazed & delighted to be on the longlist for *The Saltire Society’s National Book Awards* in the #Poetry category, debut section. Congratulations to all of the wonderous writers who have been listed & immense thanks to the whole more-than-a-village of folk who've helped raise these poems 💖
September 11, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Amazed & delighted to be on the longlist for *The Saltire Society’s National Book Awards* in the #Poetry category, debut section. Congratulations to all of the wonderous writers who have been listed & immense thanks to the whole more-than-a-village of folk who've helped raise these poems 💖
North North folk & people travelling in #Sutherland & #Caithness & friends Join me & Nadine Malcom & Lee McNeish of *Common Ground* at Melness Hall, Saturday 20 September, 2pm. #Poetry #stories imagining more possible futures. Free. Hope & cake galore. See image for details 👇
September 8, 2025 at 10:31 AM
North North folk & people travelling in #Sutherland & #Caithness & friends Join me & Nadine Malcom & Lee McNeish of *Common Ground* at Melness Hall, Saturday 20 September, 2pm. #Poetry #stories imagining more possible futures. Free. Hope & cake galore. See image for details 👇
Kathleen Madigan's * #Poetry Now * podcast on #Highland Hospital Radio is a gem. Engaging; thoughtful, healing. Featured poets include @johnglenday.bsky.social Pàdraig MacAoidh / Peter Mackay, Lydia Harris, Leonie Charlton. I've managed to stow away in there too. hhr.scot/show/hhr-sho...
Poetry Now - Highland Hospital Radio
Conversations with poets and writers in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and beyond.
hhr.scot
September 1, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Kathleen Madigan's * #Poetry Now * podcast on #Highland Hospital Radio is a gem. Engaging; thoughtful, healing. Featured poets include @johnglenday.bsky.social Pàdraig MacAoidh / Peter Mackay, Lydia Harris, Leonie Charlton. I've managed to stow away in there too. hhr.scot/show/hhr-sho...
What a treat to have won the McLellan #Poetry Prize. Thanks to judge Jim Carruth, Arran Theatre & Arts Trust & the whole ecology of poets - encouragers; editors; mentors, dearest peers. My grateful poem is here www.arrantheatreandarts.co.uk/_files/ugd/a...
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
www.arrantheatreandarts.co.uk
September 1, 2025 at 1:50 PM
What a treat to have won the McLellan #Poetry Prize. Thanks to judge Jim Carruth, Arran Theatre & Arts Trust & the whole ecology of poets - encouragers; editors; mentors, dearest peers. My grateful poem is here www.arrantheatreandarts.co.uk/_files/ugd/a...
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
@asls.org.uk @byleaveswelive.bsky.social
Reposted by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
“If we don’t explore the past, then how can we understand the journey that has brought us to where we are? This too – tracing the route – is a form of recovery.”
~ James Robertson (2025)
irishpages.org/product/vol-...
@asls.org.uk @iassl.bsky.social @scottishpen.bsky.social
~ James Robertson (2025)
irishpages.org/product/vol-...
@asls.org.uk @iassl.bsky.social @scottishpen.bsky.social
July 18, 2025 at 7:01 PM
“If we don’t explore the past, then how can we understand the journey that has brought us to where we are? This too – tracing the route – is a form of recovery.”
~ James Robertson (2025)
irishpages.org/product/vol-...
@asls.org.uk @iassl.bsky.social @scottishpen.bsky.social
~ James Robertson (2025)
irishpages.org/product/vol-...
@asls.org.uk @iassl.bsky.social @scottishpen.bsky.social
Reposted by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
A bird’s voice chinks and tinkles
Alone in the gaunt reedbed –
Tiny silversmith
Working late in the evening…
—Norman MacCaig, “July evening”
published in THE POEMS OF NORMAN MacCAIG (Birlinn, 2009)
#poetry #poem
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
Alone in the gaunt reedbed –
Tiny silversmith
Working late in the evening…
—Norman MacCaig, “July evening”
published in THE POEMS OF NORMAN MacCAIG (Birlinn, 2009)
#poetry #poem
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
July 29, 2025 at 9:12 PM
A bird’s voice chinks and tinkles
Alone in the gaunt reedbed –
Tiny silversmith
Working late in the evening…
—Norman MacCaig, “July evening”
published in THE POEMS OF NORMAN MacCAIG (Birlinn, 2009)
#poetry #poem
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
Alone in the gaunt reedbed –
Tiny silversmith
Working late in the evening…
—Norman MacCaig, “July evening”
published in THE POEMS OF NORMAN MacCAIG (Birlinn, 2009)
#poetry #poem
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
It's an honour & a beautiful thing to have been invited to become *Poet in Residence* for the @insuhi.bsky.social this place of learning; research & its people, so dear to me & immensely formative in my writing of poetry in & of the Highlands & Islands www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-...
Research - Poet in Residence
www.uhi.ac.uk
July 29, 2025 at 4:20 PM
It's an honour & a beautiful thing to have been invited to become *Poet in Residence* for the @insuhi.bsky.social this place of learning; research & its people, so dear to me & immensely formative in my writing of poetry in & of the Highlands & Islands www.uhi.ac.uk/en/research-...
Join us, five Highlands & Islands originated/oriented poets for an evening of live #poetry readings & music at @atandmt.bsky.social #Tobermory #Mull Thursday 10 July, 7pm. We'd love to see you there. Click 👇 for details.
@asls.org.uk
www.antobarandmulltheatre.co.uk/whats-on/ec2...
@asls.org.uk
www.antobarandmulltheatre.co.uk/whats-on/ec2...
SHIPS: Live Poetry & Music — An Tobar and Mull Theatre
Join five acclaimed poets—Sharon Black, Leonie Charlton, Juliet Antill, Jon Miller, and Cait O'Neill McCullagh—for a special evening of live poetry.
www.antobarandmulltheatre.co.uk
July 2, 2025 at 5:39 PM
Join us, five Highlands & Islands originated/oriented poets for an evening of live #poetry readings & music at @atandmt.bsky.social #Tobermory #Mull Thursday 10 July, 7pm. We'd love to see you there. Click 👇 for details.
@asls.org.uk
www.antobarandmulltheatre.co.uk/whats-on/ec2...
@asls.org.uk
www.antobarandmulltheatre.co.uk/whats-on/ec2...
Oh this is so good, and so necessary 👇
We're launching The Bee magazine today because the UK publishing and writing industries have a bit of a class problem.
July 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Oh this is so good, and so necessary 👇
Join us, five poets setting ashore: Saturday 5 July, 7pm, in #Strontian for new #poems, conviviality, music, book signing & for free.
Come North, come West, sail the Whale Road; we'd love to see you 💚
@byleaveswelive.bsky.social @asls.org.uk
Come North, come West, sail the Whale Road; we'd love to see you 💚
@byleaveswelive.bsky.social @asls.org.uk
June 30, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Join us, five poets setting ashore: Saturday 5 July, 7pm, in #Strontian for new #poems, conviviality, music, book signing & for free.
Come North, come West, sail the Whale Road; we'd love to see you 💚
@byleaveswelive.bsky.social @asls.org.uk
Come North, come West, sail the Whale Road; we'd love to see you 💚
@byleaveswelive.bsky.social @asls.org.uk
A gem from James Wright, uncovered by @johnglenday.bsky.social who always shares such wondrous poems - Blue Sky highlights!
June 24, 2025 at 10:08 AM
A gem from James Wright, uncovered by @johnglenday.bsky.social who always shares such wondrous poems - Blue Sky highlights!
Thanks to dear poet @taylor-strickland.bsky.social for this deeply engaged & engaging 'Bottle Imp' review of my debut #poetry collection 'The Bone Folder'. It's a privilege to get a glimpse of how some of those set-adrift lines are landing. www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/06/the-... #newbooks #poems
‘The Bone Folder’, by Cáit O’Neill McCullagh - The Bottle Imp
In the seventeenth century, Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty wielded an explosive polyglottal prose that, at times, lapsed into manly pretensions. In the twentieth century, MacDiarmid’s synthetic Scots...
www.thebottleimp.org.uk
June 24, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Thanks to dear poet @taylor-strickland.bsky.social for this deeply engaged & engaging 'Bottle Imp' review of my debut #poetry collection 'The Bone Folder'. It's a privilege to get a glimpse of how some of those set-adrift lines are landing. www.thebottleimp.org.uk/2025/06/the-... #newbooks #poems
Reposted by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
🎤 NEW PODCAST!
The latest Nothing But The Poem podcast is a Norman MacCaig special. @samueltongue.bsky.social takes a deep dive into two of the most famous poems by one of Scotland's most beloved poets to see what lay beneath the bonnet.
www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...
The latest Nothing But The Poem podcast is a Norman MacCaig special. @samueltongue.bsky.social takes a deep dive into two of the most famous poems by one of Scotland's most beloved poets to see what lay beneath the bonnet.
www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...
Nothing But The Poem - Norman MacCaig
In this episode of Nothing But The Poem podcast, our usual host Samuel Tongue goes in deep on two weel kent poems by Norman MacCaig, one of Scotland’s most loved and influential poets. Norman MacCaig ...
www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk
May 7, 2025 at 9:28 AM
🎤 NEW PODCAST!
The latest Nothing But The Poem podcast is a Norman MacCaig special. @samueltongue.bsky.social takes a deep dive into two of the most famous poems by one of Scotland's most beloved poets to see what lay beneath the bonnet.
www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...
The latest Nothing But The Poem podcast is a Norman MacCaig special. @samueltongue.bsky.social takes a deep dive into two of the most famous poems by one of Scotland's most beloved poets to see what lay beneath the bonnet.
www.scottishpoetrylibrary.org.uk/podcast/noth...
Join me:Thursday 12 June, 2-3pm, for a free online Shared #Reading hour. We'll look at work by POC, LGBT+ writers & writers with disabilities, & work in translation, in this gentle, guided session. Click below to register. It will be lovely to see you there. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/off-the-be...
Off the Beaten Track Shared Reading on Zoom
Get Off the Beaten Track with Shared Reading on Zoom
www.eventbrite.co.uk
June 11, 2025 at 8:29 AM
Join me:Thursday 12 June, 2-3pm, for a free online Shared #Reading hour. We'll look at work by POC, LGBT+ writers & writers with disabilities, & work in translation, in this gentle, guided session. Click below to register. It will be lovely to see you there. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/off-the-be...
Reposted by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
I didn’t expect to see my face and poem at the reception desk of Inverness Central Library this evening.
A fine evening listening to poetry and song hosted by the ever joyous @kittyjomac.bsky.social
A fine evening listening to poetry and song hosted by the ever joyous @kittyjomac.bsky.social
May 29, 2025 at 11:12 PM
I didn’t expect to see my face and poem at the reception desk of Inverness Central Library this evening.
A fine evening listening to poetry and song hosted by the ever joyous @kittyjomac.bsky.social
A fine evening listening to poetry and song hosted by the ever joyous @kittyjomac.bsky.social
Join me on 22 May, 2pm (BST) for an hour of Shared Reading, online. We'll be exploring work by POC, LGBT+ & disabled writers, as well as work in translation, in this gentle, guided session; part of the programme offered by @openbookreading.bsky.social 📖
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/off-the-be...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/off-the-be...
Off the Beaten Track Shared Reading on Zoom
Get Off the Beaten Track with Shared Reading on Zoom
www.eventbrite.co.uk
May 18, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Join me on 22 May, 2pm (BST) for an hour of Shared Reading, online. We'll be exploring work by POC, LGBT+ & disabled writers, as well as work in translation, in this gentle, guided session; part of the programme offered by @openbookreading.bsky.social 📖
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/off-the-be...
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/off-the-be...
This will be a luminous week ✨ with outstanding guides @marjorielotfi.bsky.social & @niallpoetry.bsky.social & all the goodness of Galloway leaning into us. For all who are in the practice of #writing, of #poems #Retreat, Galloway House, 14-19 September. Click below for more details & booking 👇
We're thrilled that poet Niall Campbell is joining us at Galloway House Estate for our 14-19th September 2025 retreat. The retreat is fully-catered, with massage and yoga also available.
More info: marjorielotfi.com/writing-retr...). DM or email via my website w/ questions or to reserve a place.
More info: marjorielotfi.com/writing-retr...). DM or email via my website w/ questions or to reserve a place.
May 7, 2025 at 11:02 AM
This will be a luminous week ✨ with outstanding guides @marjorielotfi.bsky.social & @niallpoetry.bsky.social & all the goodness of Galloway leaning into us. For all who are in the practice of #writing, of #poems #Retreat, Galloway House, 14-19 September. Click below for more details & booking 👇
It's an honour to have my wee poem 'Return' featured alongside the tender writing of Tom Murray in this month's Open Book Podcast, with the luminous @marjorielotfi.bsky.social & @claireurquhart.bsky.social ✨ soundcloud.com/openbookun..... The poem: openbookreading.com/wp-content/u...
soundcloud.com
May 7, 2025 at 9:09 AM
It's an honour to have my wee poem 'Return' featured alongside the tender writing of Tom Murray in this month's Open Book Podcast, with the luminous @marjorielotfi.bsky.social & @claireurquhart.bsky.social ✨ soundcloud.com/openbookun..... The poem: openbookreading.com/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
After Whistler by Lisel Mueller.
Perhaps based on Symphony in White No. 1?
Perhaps based on Symphony in White No. 1?
April 17, 2025 at 8:18 AM
After Whistler by Lisel Mueller.
Perhaps based on Symphony in White No. 1?
Perhaps based on Symphony in White No. 1?
Reposted by Cáit O'Neill McCullagh
Here's a look at the next #NorthSeaPoets webinars 🧑💻
Get all the details and book at northseapoets.com/events 🌊
#PoetryCommunity #PoetrySky
Get all the details and book at northseapoets.com/events 🌊
#PoetryCommunity #PoetrySky
April 13, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Here's a look at the next #NorthSeaPoets webinars 🧑💻
Get all the details and book at northseapoets.com/events 🌊
#PoetryCommunity #PoetrySky
Get all the details and book at northseapoets.com/events 🌊
#PoetryCommunity #PoetrySky
That dear 'loveless moon' of Norman McCaig's, putting the heart over in me this #EarthDay
It’s hard to think that the earth is one –
This poor sad bearer of wars and disasters
Rolls-Roycing round the sun with its load of gangsters,
Attended only by the loveless moon.
—Norman MacCaig, “Stars and Planets”
#poem #EarthDay #EarthDay2025
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
This poor sad bearer of wars and disasters
Rolls-Roycing round the sun with its load of gangsters,
Attended only by the loveless moon.
—Norman MacCaig, “Stars and Planets”
#poem #EarthDay #EarthDay2025
birlinn.co.uk/product/the-...
April 22, 2025 at 11:29 AM
That dear 'loveless moon' of Norman McCaig's, putting the heart over in me this #EarthDay
#Cromarty will fill with a wheen of writers & musicians 23-24 May, celebrating #HughMiller folklorist, geologist, paleantologist, essayist, sennachie; person of many pairts. I look forward to sharing my #poems there, along with @gillshawwrites.bsky.social @ammonitesandstars.bsky.social & many more 👇
April 15, 2025 at 11:32 AM
#Cromarty will fill with a wheen of writers & musicians 23-24 May, celebrating #HughMiller folklorist, geologist, paleantologist, essayist, sennachie; person of many pairts. I look forward to sharing my #poems there, along with @gillshawwrites.bsky.social @ammonitesandstars.bsky.social & many more 👇