Govanhill Mythology
Govanhill Mythology is a poetry collection about the effects of change on a community and its people. Within living memory, the Govanhill district of Glasgow was infamous as a place of extreme poverty, appalling health and terrifying crime rates. Now it is a desirable place to live and work, boasting a vibrant, diverse community. In Govanhill Mythology, poet and linguist Shane Johnstone has wrought an intricate and powerful picture of the people of Govanhill—their diverse cultures, their languages and their struggles to adapt to and embrace the seismic changes that have transformed their home beyond recognition during the last three decades. Johnstone’s multilingual poetry will resonate with the people of Glasgow and beyond. These powerful poems are about the impact of tumultuous change on a small, deprived community. What Johnstone expresses so movingly is a sense of alienation and loss that we can all recognise in our own evolving communities.
“An unbelievably creative, varied, multilingual, Glaswegian collection.”
“Abair thusa cruinneachadh cruthachail, eug-samhail, ioma-chànanach, Glaschu-ach.”
— Dr Tòmas MacAilpein (a’ cheàrdach), professor of Gaelic at the University of Glasgow
Shane Johnstone
Shane Johnstone is a Glaswegian poet, translator, and novelist. His poetry in Gaelic, Scots and English is widely published in Scotland, and his first novel, The Gods of Frequency, was published by Arkbound Publishing in 2020. Shane (whose family speak Gaelic at home) is a practitioner in a Gaelic immersion nursery with a love of French literature. He loves hiking with his two sons, who he lives with in Govanhill.