A Thran Podcast Special: Celebrating Burns Night with Award-Winning Poet Stephen Dornan
Date Posted: January 21, 2025
In the run-up to Burns Night, this month’s episode of the Thran podcast features the award-winning poet and Robert Burns enthusiast, Stephen Dornan. Pour a wee dram and enjoy yer haggis as you listen to this special episode showcasing the Scottish Bard.
The Thran podcast is proudly produced by local production company Negative Waves with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund.
Burns Night on Saturday 25th January honours Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns with an evening of traditional food, poetry readings, and Scottish music enjoyed worldwide. Known for timeless works like Auld Lang Syne and Tam o’ Shanter, Burns’ poetry celebrates love, nature, and humanity. In Northern Ireland, Burns Night holds special meaning for the Ulster-Scots community as it reflects their shared history and cultural ties with Scotland. It is a time to celebrate identity, tradition, and the enduring legacy of Robert Burns.
In the lead-up to these celebrations, the Thran podcast (produced by Negative Waves) features an interview with Stephen Dornan, including his reading of Burns’ poem McPherson’s Farewell which tells the tale of Scottish outlaw James MacPherson’s defiance as he faces execution. Alongside Burns’ work, Stephen also shares one of his own poems, The Gellick, a humorous tale of an earwig that crawls into people’s ears and makes them speak Ulster-Scots!
Thran is a monthly Ulster-Scots podcast that has, over the past year, featured notable poets and authors such as Charlie Gillen, Anne McMaster, and Angeline King. It also welcomes fresh perspectives on Ulster-Scots culture, including guests like Bonny Cooper, originally from China, and Adelaide Mensah, originally from Ghana. Both bring unique insights into their countries’ relationships with multiple languages and dialects.
This month’s episode will air on fUSe FM on Wednesday 22nd January and will be available on Spotify shortly afterwards.
Listeners in the Ballymoney area can tune in to fUSe FM at 107.5 FM and everyone can listen online at fuse.fm or via the TuneIn app. To follow Thran, subscribe on Spotify by searching for Thran or click here.
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