Murray Lachlan Young (born 14 March 1969) is a British poet, stand-up performer, broadcaster, playwright and screenwriter, and he is also a children's author who has worked extensively in schools. He came to prominence during the Britpop era of the mid-1990s, when he became the only poet to sign a recording contract worth £1m.
Personal life Young graduated from University of Salford. In 1998, he married singer Zoë Pollock; they have two children.
Performances
Live solo shows include: UK solo headline tours (2014 & 2016) Glastonbury Festival of Performing Arts (1996–present, except 2015) MTV Music Awards, US (1997) T in the Park Festival (1998 & 2001) Port Elliot Festival (2005–present) Latitude Festival (2006, ’13 & ’15) Goodlife Festival (2013, ’14 & ’15) Brighton Festival (2014) The Wilderness Festival (2014) 6 Music Festival (2014–present) Festival No 6 (2015–present) Poet in residence at The Union Club, Soho, London (1997–present) Poet in residence at The Arts Club, Mayfair, London (2014–16)
Books
Vice & Verse (EMI, 1997) Casual Sex and Other Verse (Bantam Books, 1997) How Freakin' Zeitgeist Are You? (Unbound, 2017) The Nine Dead Williams (publisher unknown, 2014) The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps (Scotland Street Press, 2018) The Chronicles of Atom & Luna. Tales From The Forest. (Switched On Publishing, 2024)
Stage, film, dance and 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, 2015) God’s Work (in development) The Mystery of the Raddlesham Mumps Summerset (writing)
Shorts: Desideratum (1992) Little Sucker Thumb (adapted, 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) Contributor, Newsnight, BBC 2, (2014)
Hartnoll & Young In 2021, Murray Lachlan Young teamed up with Orbital's Paul Hartnoll for a lockdown inspired album called The Virus Diaries under the name Hartnoll & Young. In June 2021, the pair released a single from the album called "Garden Centre (Push the Trolley)" as a follow-up to "I Need a Haircut".
References
External links Official website Fifteen Questions Literature Interview with Murray Lachlan Young