Janey Godley in running to be named 'Scots Speaker of the Year'

Janey Godley, the comic and actress who creates hilarious voiceovers of Nicola Sturgeon’s daily coronavirus briefings, is in the running for a major honour in recognition of her contribution to the Scots language.

Janey Godley is in the running to be honoured at this month's Scots Language Awards.

She is contention to be named “Scots Speaker of the Year” as part of a new celebration of the language.

It dates back around 1,400 years and is thought to have been spoken by almost a third of the population at one time.

Godley has been nominated alongside writers, broadcasters, academics, teachers, publishers and projects championing the Scots language, which is now believed to be spoken by more than 1.5 million people across the country.

Writer and broadcaster Alistair Heather will be hosting the Scots Language Awards on 24 October.

The author James Robertson will be receiving a lifetime achievement award at the ceremony, which will be broadcast live online on 24 October.

The 59-year-old, who has been performing stand-up for more than 25 years, has been shortlisted for the honour just days after she won a Scottish Comedy Award for her impersonations of the First Minister, which have seen her following on Twitter soar to more than 180,000.

Godley has also won acclaim in recent months for her appearances in two separate films made at home for the National Theatre of Scotland's online series, Scenes for Survival, in which she played a recently-bereaved housewife.

Godley’s previous screen appearances include the BBC Scotland drama series, the panel show Have I Got News For You and the feature film Wild Rose, about a young country singer pursuing a dream of making it big in Nashville.

Godley will be up for Scots Speaker of the Year against singer-songwriter Steve Byrne, Ashley Douglas, a researcher and parliamentary reporter specialising in Gaelic at Holyrood, poet Josie O’Neill, broadcaster Andrew Davidson and artist Róisín Gallagher.

Contenders for the Scots Performer of the Year honour include Amy Conachan, Angus Shoor Caan, Iona Fyfe and Shona Donaldson.

Christie Williamson, Gerda Stevenson, Shane Strachan, Sheila Templeton and Stuart Paterson are all in the running to be named Scots Writer of the Year.

Nominees for the children’s awards for “Scots Bairns Book o the Year” include A Squatter o Bairn Rhymes by Stuart Paterson, Asterix and the Olympic Gemmes by Matthew Fitt, Nib Nebs and the Last Berry by Susi Briggs, Peppa and the Bonnie Unicorn by Thomas Clark, Sonny and Me by Ross Sayers and The Itchy Coo Book o Hans Christian Andersen.

The Scots Language Awards were instigated last year to coincide with the United Nations Year of Indigenous Languages.

Simon Thoumire, founder of the awards, said: “I’m so thrilled at the calibre of this year’s incredible nominees, which in all ways are reflective of the pivots taking place within culture due to lockdown.”

Bruce Eunson, Scots language co-ordinator for the government agency Education Scotland, said: “Followin on fae the inaugural awards in 2019, it’s fantastic tae see sae mony inspirin projects, books an fowk gittin a chance tae share an celebrate thir wark.

"We at Education Scotland ir delighted tae be involved agayn, an wid lik tae gie a big thank you tae aa the schuils, teachers, wee weans an braw bairns wha hiv excelled in thir use o Scots language in classrooms aa across the country.”