The Young Team: Granta Best of Young British Novelists 2023

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The main character in the novel Azzy is based on Graeme's life and the different scenarios he found himself in growing up in gang culture.

Scotland's National Book Awards 2021 Shortlists". The Saltire Society. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023 . Retrieved 14 April 2023.

From gangs, booze and blade culture to an award-winning writer with a TV deal, Graeme has come a long way from his life in the scheme. More than anything, he hopes his book helps other people on the path to a better future. Claire Mundell, founder and creative director at Synchronicity Films, said: “Graeme’s novel vividly and honestly depicts the realities of life for a disenfranchised and much demonized section of working-class youth, young people on the margins of society who are too often under-served and misrepresented on screen. We are excited to be working with Graeme, Ben and Adrian to collaborate on an authentic scripted adaptation of this seminal novel.” However, as much as it has you longing for the days of old- it is also a stark reminder of why it’s been left in the past. Why those that could escape did. Addiction, murder, mutilation, depression, suicide and PTSD are very much an issue for Scotland’s young men. They should be spoken about- and Graeme has given young men a platform, a safe space to read about and discuss these issues with pals. All because of an absolute belter of a book. The author is now eight years drug-free and five years tee-total. But his journey to sobriety has been at times one of regret, guilt and frustration over his misspent youth.

Community justice exhibition opens at University of Stirling | About". University of Stirling. 20 October 2021 . Retrieved 17 October 2023. The Young Team (2020) by Graeme Armstrong shares a lot in common with Who They Was. Both authors grew up on estates with high levels of crime and violence, and limited opportunities for the people that live there. Both tales are highly autobiographical and terrifying. Both are, ultimately, tales of redemption. In 2021, Armstrong wrote and starred in a short film for the Edinburgh International Book Festival Infectious Nihilism and Small Metallic Pieces of Hope [19] directed by James Price. [20] Later that year, he presented a BBC documentary, Scotland the Rave with IWC Media, which was subsequently nominated for a BAFTA Scotland and Royal Television Society Scotland award. [21] a b "Betty Trask Prize". The Society of Authors. 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022 . Retrieved 14 April 2023. Get all the latest Glasgow news and headlines sent straight to your inbox twice a day by signing up to our free newsletter.

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In 2013, Armstrong received a 2:1 Bachelor of Arts undergraduate degree in English Studies from University of Stirling [12] and returned to Stirling to complete a Master of Letters in Creative Writing, graduating with Merit in 2015. [12] [10] He is currently undertaking a PhD the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. [14] Armstrong wrote and presented a three-part BBC Scotland documentary series, Street Gangs [24] [25] exploring current Scottish gang culture including the recent impact of social media and drill music / roadman culture, and his lived experience as an ex-gang member, which aired in October 2023 and is featured on BBC iPlayer. [26] [27] [28] Awards and honours [ edit ] The Young Team is a 21st century tale of alcohol, drugs, raving, territorial disputes and violence. It focusses on young working class males on Lanarkshire estates who are compelled to live up to the hard man image of their elders. Predictably for most it’s a road to nowhere, littered with burnouts, corpses, casualties, regret, anger and sorrow.

a b "New BBC documentary on 'young team' culture to air next week". Glasgow Times. 25 September 2023 . Retrieved 26 September 2023. You write brilliantly about drugs and violence, both of which tend to lie outside the realm of language.… Although this wasn’t my scene or generation, I still get it and can respect and relate to it in most ways. I am familiar with the dialect and some of the words and phrases had me laughing, especially the ones I haven’t heard in years. But let’s be honest the vast majority of potential readers, especially those outside of Scotland’s central belt, are going to find this an incredibly difficult read. And unlike the film version of "Trainspotting" there are no subtitles available for the Americans and others who will struggle, and yet somehow a part of me really likes the idea of that.Azzy Williams makes poor choices. But what other choices did he have? The police, your parents, your school: they all try to push you a different path. Violence begets violence. And yet what choice do you have when you’re trapped in years of intergenerational dynamics, like an understudy actor stepping up to take the lead? You play your part, like you’ve been told countless times before. It’s normal to you. It’s natural. Azzy Williams makes better choices. We’re with Azzy as he grows. As his mental health worsens, Azzy seeks help. He gets a pamphlet. There’s a surprise, said no one ever who’s ever tried to access support for their mental health here. Azzy tries his best. He’s an opportunist, for the good and the bad. His register changes. You talk a bit more proper, or as my cousin told me once: “ye sound lit a fanny”. It happens, the more you get away from your upbringing and the more you feel you have to prove your intelligence, prove to others you’re more than just a kid from the schemes. Azzy encounters folk like that. He knows.

Despite the success of Irvine Welsh – “the toughest and roughest renderer of dialect I’ve ever read,” states Armstrong – publishers were still unsure if The Young Team could work outside a Scottish market. But the novel’s vernacular isn’t just a stylistic decision, it’s inseparable from Azzy’s – and Armstrong’s – world. “It’s the way I talk, the way I think and the language of my community.” a b "Graeme Armstrong – Standard English is oor Second Language". Literature Alliance Scotland . Retrieved 24 May 2023. Azzy Williams. He cares. Deep down, he does. The hash numbs you. Daily smoking does that to you. Azzy Williams gets into fights. He gets hurt, his friends get hurt, and the passage of time leads to what was once a comforting drinking spot with your pals, the cemetery, to being the only place you’ll ever see them again. How did you get here?He was expelled from Airdrie Academy aged 14 after a series of incidents and was moved to Coatbridge High, where the rival teams were even more cut-throat than the mining town where he came from. Granta: Eleanor Catton and Saba Sams make Best of Young British Novelists list". BBC News. 13 April 2023 . Retrieved 15 May 2023. Graeme experienced many brushes with tragedy as a teenager: Three of his friends suffered heroin overdoses, one of which he had witnessed at a party aged 16. One later died. Though he was very “anti-heroin,” he began to realise it was all around him, shrouded in secrecy and shame. I got both the audiobook read by Graeme Armstrong, and a physical copy too. Both are wonderful experiences. Hearing the Lanarkshire accent creates another level of immersion. Either medium is great, combined though is unbeatable. Would you agree that there’s a certain nostalgia for your time in gangs that comes through in the book?