Matthew Fitt

Matthew Fitt (born 1968) is a Scots poet and novelist. He has translated several literary works into Scots.

Early life Fitt was born in 1968 in Dundee. His mother was a journalist, working for publications such as Mandy. His great-grandfather William Beharrie was a novelist who wrote in Scots.

In his final year of school, his teachers showed him the works of Robert Burns and Hugh MacDiarmid. After he graduated from university, he became a teacher but continued to write.

Literary career In 2002, together with James Robertson and Susan Rennie, he co-founded Itchy Coo, a publishing imprint and educational project to reintroduce schoolchildren to the Scots tongue.

His best known work and debut novel is But'n'Ben A-Go-Go, an ecofiction novel in Lowland Scots. He has also translated several Roald Dahl novels, including The Twits (The Eejits), George's Marvellous Medicine (Geordie’s Mingin Medicine) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Chairlie and the Chocolate Works), and, in 2018, J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stane.

In May 2020, he was awarded the Scottish Book Trust's outstanding contribution to children's books award.

In December 2021, he became the cofounder and editor of Scots-language magazine Eemis Stane.