Award-winning writers Jon Miller and LG Thomson will host the WordHaus event, a cabaret of poetry and prose, at the Ceilidh Place in Ullapool on March 27. They will be joined by poets Cáit O’Neill McCullagh and Lynn Valentine. The event aims to create a lively space for audience connection with performers.
The WordHaus event returns to Ullapool’s Ceilidh Place venue on Friday, March 27, hosted by poet Jon Miller and author LG Thomson. The cabaret-style gathering features performances by Cáit O’Neill McCullagh and Lynn Valentine, set in an intimate atmosphere arranged by the venue team.
LG Thomson described the concept: “The idea behind WordHaus is to create a lively and fun space where the audience can connect with each other as well as with the performers. The concept has been brilliantly supported by the team at the Ceilidh Place, with the venue set up in cabaret style to create an intimate atmosphere. It’s a great night out and always feels pretty special. A warm welcome awaits you.”
Cáit O’Neill McCullagh’s poetry draws from her Irish and Scottish Highland roots, as well as her background in archaeology and ethnology, often featuring locations like Ullapool, Coigach, and Assynt. Her debut pamphlet, The songs I sing are sisters, was Dreich’s Classic Chapbook in 2022 and won a Saboteur Award in 2023. In 2025, she was shortlisted for the Bridport Prize, won the McLellan Poetry Prize, and her collection The Bone Folder was shortlisted for The Saltires: Scotland’s Book Awards. She serves as the first honorary Poet in Residence for UHI Institute of Northern Studies and Lead Reader for Open Book, while living with cancer and writing her next collection.
Lynn Valentine, based in the Black Isle, writes in English and Scots. Her pamphlet A Glimmer o Stars won Hedgehog Poetry Press’s dialect award in 2021, and that year, the Scottish Poetry Library selected one of her poems as the best Scots poem, with her as runner-up in the Scots section of the Wigtown Poetry Prize. Her debut collection, Life’s Stink and Honey, won Cinnamon Press’s literature award in 2022. She took the Scots category of the McLellan Prize in 2024, and her second collection, Devil’s Piece, was recently published by Cinnamon Press. Critics note her as “a fearless writer who tackles the great unspeakables head-on,” with work rooted in Highland landscapes and seascapes.
Jon Miller, former co-editor of Northwords Now, has published poetry, articles, and reviews widely, including collaborations with artists and musicians. He won the Neil Gunn Poetry Competition and will judge its 2026 edition, with further accolades like longlisting for the Bridport Prize and winning the International Book and Pamphlet Competition. His latest pamphlet, Past Tense Future Imperfect, appeared in 2023 from Smith/Doorstop.
LG Thomson, a Ullapool resident, is an author and visual artist with seven novels and two memoirs, including Modernist Dreams Brutalist Nightmares and Bitter Fruit. Her neo-noir thriller Boyle's Law is set in the Highlands. She won the Grolsch/Company Magazine award and was shortlisted for the Dundee Book Prize, and she runs creative writing workshops.
The 18+ event opens doors at 7pm, starting at 7:30pm, with tickets at £5 from the Ceilidh Place reception.