Duncan McLean (writer)

Duncan McLean is a Scottish novelist, playwright, short story writer, and theatre director. He is known for his use of Scots dialect and his exploration of contemporary Scottish life, often with a dark and humorous edge.

McLean was born in 1964 and raised in Orkney. He studied at the University of Glasgow. He gained recognition in the 1990s as part of a wave of new Scottish writing that included writers such as Irvine Welsh and Alan Warner.

His published works include the novels Bucket of Tongues (1992), Blackden (2003), and Hill Run (2016). He has also published collections of short stories, including Ribbons (1996) and Nineteen Seventy-Seven (2001).

McLean's plays have been performed in Scotland and internationally. He has also written extensively for radio.

He co-founded the independent publishing house Clocktower Press and is involved in a number of community arts projects.