Auld NewsPublisher of the Month
February 2009
'The world's only bookshop and information site dedicated to Scottish books' BooksfromScotland.com makes Itchy Coo Publisher of the month. To find out more visit BooksfromScotland.com. Wee Fairy Tales TAG Citizens Theatre Tour
January 2008
TAG Citizens Theatre in Glasgow brought some Itchy Coo stories to life. Based on A Wee Book o Fairy Tales the company toured Scotland with its braw Wee Fairy Tales production. For read about the 2008 Wee Fairy Tales tour go to TAG siteKATIE'S MOOSE WINS ROYAL MAIL BOOK AWARD!
November 2007
Katie's Moose, our keek-a-boo book for wee bairns, has won the Early Years category in the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books 2007.
Katie’s lost her moose. Where is the wee craitur? To make matters worse, Katie cannae find her dug, the pig, the bear, the craw and she’s no sure where the coo is either. Help Katie find her wee pals by lifting the flaps in this beautiful book for infants and young readers. Toddlers quite simply cannae get enough of looking for these Scots animals with mum, dad, gran or granddad saying Keek-a-Boo for each colourful page. Hours of fun and learning from this award-winning book. Keek-a-Boo!
For more information about the Awards, go to the Royal Mail Children's Book Awards site. The Eejits - No 1 Bestseller
October 2006
THE EEJITS is gaun like snaw aff a dyke aw ower Scotland, and ootsellin big names like Zadie Smith, Sebastian Foulks and Sam Bourne.
The photie shaw The EEJITS as Nummer 1 bestsellin paperback in Waterstone's, Dundee. Scots at the United Nations
May 2006
On 5th May 2006, the Scots Language was heard on-stage for the first time at the prestigious world poetry event, The Stones of Civilization, held at the United Nations in New York. 
Itchy Coo's Matthew Fitt read a poem in Scots to 250 delegates in the U.N. Building's Dag Hammarskold auditorium. Reading 'Acid Burns' by Mike Cullen from Itchy Coo's Scots anthology The Smoky Smirr o Rain, Matthew encouraged poets from Australia, Wales, the Basque Country, Ireland, Africa and North America to join in a chorus of 'Hoose, hoose, hoose, hoose.'
The UN reading was co-sponsored by the United Nations SRC Society of Writers, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) with the aim of raising awareness of minority and endangered languages in an era of globalization. It was attended by Sir Emyr Jones Parry, the UK's Ambassador to the UN.
Prior to the Stones of Civilization reading, the United Nations has only recognised Scottish Gaelic (which was represented this year by poet, Aonghas MacNeacail). At this milestone event for Itchy Coo and for Scots, Matthew also read a statement addressing Scottish government's changing attitude towards the language:
'I'd like to take this opportunity here at the United Nations to commend the Scottish Arts Council and the Scottish Executive for their strong commitment to the Scots Language. It is hoped that all organisations in Scotland will now support this unique tongue and work to secure its future for the next generation of young Scots.'Putting Scots into Schools
January 2005
Itchy Coo and Scots language education policy are given a major profile in the latest issue [January 2005] of Teaching Scotland, the General Teaching Council for Scotland's magazine.
The magazine cover features the artwork of Bob Dewar from Blethertoun Braes, articles on Itchy Coo and Scots language provison and an important statement from Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Patricia Ferguson.
More info at www.gtcs.org.uk.
Read Itchy Coo's Submission to the Cultural Commission (December 2004)
Itchy Coo goes International
November 2004
Symposium on Regional and Minority European Languages in Education, held at the Fryske (Frisian) Akademy in Ljouwert (Leeuwarden, the Netherlands). This gathering of academics and activists was hugely impressive and informative - Matthew and James learned about the problems and successes of regional and minority languages across Europe, including such tongues as Kashubian, Silesian and Ruthenian. More details on Mercator's important work can be found at www.mercator-education.org .
Meanwhile Matthew took Itchy Coo on a British Council-supported tour of the Czech Republic in November/December, visiting schools, teacher-training faculties and British Centres. Itchy Coo was also featured on Radio Prague, Radio Usti and in the British Council news magazine.
Itchy Coo, along with 16 other Scottish publishers, will be represented at the Modern Languages Association annual convention in Washington D.C., 27th-30th December. This is a huge event, one of the largest gatherings of teachers and academics in the USA, and Itchy Coo will be there for the second year running. We're hoping the books will attract as much attention as they did in Philadelphia last year. More information at www.scottishwriting.org.uk Tam O Shanter's Big Night Oot Pairty
Autumn 2003
September 2003 - World Premiere of Tam o Shanters Big Night Oot at Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Pupils from Stonelaw, Lawside, Queensferry, Northfield, St Rochs and Coatbridge High Schools knock audiences socks off.
December 2003 - BBC Radio Scotland Hogmanay Special, featuring the weans of St. Rochs Secondary School in Glasgow and the bairns of Queensferry High School performing from Tam o Shanters Big Night Oot.