Graeme Armstrong (born 1991) is a Scottish author best known for his debut novel, ''The Young Team.'' The novel won the 2021

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total at least , with normally one author receiving a larger prize amount ( ...

and

Somerset Maugham Award The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to ...

, and was Scots Language Awards 'Scots Book of the Year' in the same year. ''The Young Team'' is currently being adapted for television by Synchronicity Films and has been commissioned as a BBC drama production as of March, 2025. Armstrong has been announced as screenwriter and executive producer. In 2023, ''

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story's supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make ...

'' included Armstrong on their ‘ Best of Young British Novelists’ list, an honour presented every ten years to the twenty most significant British novelists under forty. Armstrong’s second novel, ''Raveheart'', is to be published by 4th Estate (imprint) at

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

in April 2026. It is to be adapted for screen by

Warp Films Warp Films is an independent film and television production company based in Sheffield and London, England, UK. History 2001 – 2012 Warp Films was established by Warp Records founding partners Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett. It was initially ...

, (producers of

This Is England ''This Is England'' is a 2006 British coming-of-age drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. Its plot centres on young skinheads in England in 1983, illustrating how their subculture became influenced by far-right politics. The f ...

Dead Man's Shoes (2004 film) ''Dead Man's Shoes'' is a 2004 British psychological thriller revenge tragedy film directed by Shane Meadows and starring Paddy Considine, both of whom co-wrote the film with Paul Fraser. The film also stars Toby Kebbell (in his first film appear ...

and

Adolescence (TV series) ''Adolescence'' is a British television psychological crime drama series created by Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham and directed by Philip Barantini. It centres on a 13-year-old schoolboy named Jamie Miller ( Owen Cooper) who is arrested after ...

) and is a dystopian rave comedy.

Biography

Armstrong is from Airdrie, Scotland. As a teenager he was involved in

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

's 'young team' territorial gang culture as a member of the Young Mavis, from

Glenmavis Glenmavis is a village in the North Lanarkshire area of Scotland. It is about northwest of Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie on the B802 road. It has a population of around (). Etymology The etymology of the name is ‘glen of the song-thrus ...

.'I walked into uni as a ned and left with a Masters'
Laura Boyd, STV News, 22 May 2021 At fourteen, he was expelled from Airdrie Academy and began attending Coatbridge High School, where he joined another gang, the Lang El Toi (LL TOI) from Langloan, Coatbridge. Armstrong is a lifelong supporter of Scottish football side

Rangers F.C Rangers Football Club is a professional Association football, football club in Glasgow, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Premiership, the top division of Scottish football league system, Scottish football. The club is often referr ...

Aged sixteen, following the deaths of three friends by

heroin overdose An opioid overdose is toxicity due to excessive consumption of opioids, such as morphine, codeine, heroin, fentanyl, tramadol, and methadone. This preventable pathology can be fatal if it leads to Hypoventilation, respiratory depression, a let ...

and after reading ''Trainspotting'' by

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

, Armstrong pursued a route of higher education, and began to break away from gang life. During his time in gangs, he struggled with alcohol abuse, drug addiction and violence. Armstrong "stopped taking drugs on Christmas Day 2012" and speaks candidly about having a Christian faith. His experiences inspired his debut novel, ''The Young Team'', a work of social realism, written in West Central Scots language. In 2013, Armstrong received a 2:1

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

undergraduate degree in English Studies from the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals; ) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by a royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built within the walled Airth ...

and returned there to complete a

Master of Letters A Master of Letters degree (MLitt or LittM; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. Ireland Trinity College Dublin and Maynooth University offer MLitt degrees. Trinity has offered them the longest, owing largely to its tradition as Ireland's ...

in Creative Writing, graduating with Merit in 2015. As of 2023, he is currently undertaking a PhD at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

in Glasgow. In 2021, Armstrong wrote and starred in a short film for the

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place during two weeks in August every year in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland. Described as ''The largest festival of its kind in the world'', the festival hosts ...

''Infectious Nihilism and Small Metallic Pieces of Hope'' directed by James Price. Later that year, he presented a BBC documentary, ''Scotland the Rave'' with IWC Media, which was subsequently nominated for a

BAFTA Scotland BAFTA in Scotland is the Scottish branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Formed in 1986, the branch holds two annual awards ceremonies recognising the achievement by performers and production staff in Scottish film, televis ...

and

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Scotland award. During the

2023, Armstrong hosted

James Kelman James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His fiction and short stories feature accounts of internal mental processes of usually, but not exclusively, working class narrators and their ...

and spoke around difficulties in working-class representation, "cultural banishment" and Kelman's new work, 'God's Teeth and Other Phenomena'. Armstrong wrote and presented a three-part

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

documentary series, ''Street Gangs'' exploring current Scottish gang culture, including the recent impact of

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

drill music Drill music, also known as drill rap or simply drill, is a subgenre of hip-hop music that originated in Chicago in the early 2010s. It is sonically similar to the trap music subgenre and lyrically similar to the gangsta rap subgenre. Drill lyr ...

roadman "Chav" (), also "charver", "scally" and "roadman" in parts of England, is a British term, usually used in a pejorative way. The term is used to describe an anti-social lower-class youth dressed in sportswear. * * * * Julie Burchill descri ...

culture, and his lived experience as an ex-gang member, which aired in October 2023 and was featured on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

. Armstrong is an ambassador for The Hope Collective, a London-based anti-violence organisation, formed originally to support the 20th anniversary legacy campaign for Damilola Taylor. In June 2024,

New College Lanarkshire New College Lanarkshire is a further education institution in Scotland in North Lanarkshire. The college was created in November 2013 from the merger of Cumbernauld College and Motherwell College, and in 2014 it absorbed Coatbridge College. ...

inducted Armstrong as an honorary lecturer to celebrate the launch of their Undergraduate School in partnership with the

University of the West of Scotland The University of the West of Scotland (), formerly the University of Paisley, is a public university with four campuses in south-western Scotland, in the towns of Paisley, Blantyre, Dumfries and Ayr, as well as a campus in London, England. T ...

, offering the first degree level study in North Lanarkshire, alongside others including author and broadcaster Damian Barr, a fellow North Lanarkshire native. Later in 2024, Armstrong joined a panel of experts at the

Convention of Scottish Local Authorities The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) is the national association of Scottish councils and acts as an employers' association for its 32 member authorities. History Formed in 1975, COSLA exists to promote and protect the int ...

(COSLA) national conference alongside Karyn McCluskey and Maureen McKenna OBE to discuss early intervention and prevention, where First Minister of Scotland

John Swinney John Ramsay Swinney (born 13 April 1964) is a Scottish politician who has served as First Minister of Scotland, first minister of Scotland since 2024. Swinney has served as Leader of the Scottish National Party, leader of the Scottish National ...

also delivered an address. As of 2025, Armstrong runs a violence prevention educational event series, ‘STREET BELONGING’ for school pupils, leaders and in the prison estate across Scotland, working with organisations such as Community Justice Scotland and Medics Against Violence. He is an associate for the Children and Young People’s Centre for Justice and currently sits on the Strategic Advisory Board for the Scottish Violence Reduction Unit

Awards and honours

In April 2023, ''

'' included Armstrong on their "Best of Young British Novelists" list, an honour presented every ten years "to the twenty most significant British novelists under forty."

Publication

Novels

* ''The Young Team'' (Picador, 2020) * ''Raveheart'' (4th Estate, forthcoming 04/26)

Short works

*''Landit'' (The Middle of a Sentence: Short Prose Anthology, ''The Common Breath,'' 2020) *''The Jakit, Mysticism n PPK Resurrection'' (Scottish Book Trust, 2022) * ''The Cloud Factory'' (Granta, 2023)

Translated

* ''La Gang -'' Italian translation of ''The Young Team'' (Guanda, 2021) * ''The Young Team -'' Spanish translation (Automática Editorial, 2022)

Filmography

* ''Scotland the Rave'' – single documentary (IWC Media, 2021) * ''Street Gangs'' – documentary series (Tern Media, 2023)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Graeme Living people People from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire 21st-century Scottish writers 1991 births Scottish documentary filmmakers Scots-language writers People educated at Airdrie Academy People educated at Coatbridge High School Alumni of the University of Stirling