A NEWSPAPER has been made the subject of a legal complaint after appearing to suggest that a Scottish poet had committed plagiarism.
The Times has said that Canongate Books has “lodged a legal complaint” against its sister title, the Sunday Times, over a scathing review of Len Pennie’s new collection Poyums Annaw.
In it, reviewer Graeme Richardson compared Pennie’s work to that of William McGonagall, widely held to be one of Scotland’s worst-ever poets.
His infamous work The Tay Bridge Disaster ends with the lines: “For the stronger we our houses do build/ The less chance we have of being killed.”
The legal complaint is said to centre around a suggestion of plagiarism contained in the review, in a section where the reviewer examines Pennie’s poem Good Girl, which is about Laika, the dog sent into orbit by the Soviet Union in 1957.
Pennie’s poem describes the world as “just a ball that I haven’t yet caught” and ends with the lines: “The last words I heard my new science friends say:/ Good girl, Laika; sit, Laika; now, Laika, stay.”
The Sunday Times reviewer added: “Readers might like to check out the excellent poem Laika by Sarah Doyle, published in 2019, and easily found online. Doyle writes: ‘Earth no/ more than a distant ball with/ which you cannot play.’
“Doyle’s poems ends with words she invented, as the last words Laika must have heard: ‘Laika, in. Laika, lay./ Good girl, Laika. Wait. Stay.’ It’s a remarkable coincidence.”
The rest of the review is excoriating, with Richardson describing Pennie’s work as “execrable”, adding: “She is (and I say it with due awe and reverence) the worst poet to have emerged from Scotland since William McGonagall.”
The 25-year-old poet has amassed a huge online following with videos highlighting Scottish words, racking up 700,000 followers on TikTok and more than 500,000 on Instagram.
She has also been open about her experience of domestic abuse. In 2023 her former partner Gregor Monson admitted to physically assaulting Pennie during lockdown and, after they broke up, subjecting her to a campaign of harassment.
Emma Mitchell, an author, took aim at Richardson’s review, saying that Pennie was a “pure unfettered talent rising from the ashes of a life”, adding: “Your review is naught but bullying and many in the industry agree.
You mean pure unfettered talent rising from the ashes of a life? Your review is naught but bullying and many in the industry agree. Many. You’ve caused her huge pain. Maybe that was your aim, to erode a successful but vulnerable woman. Shame on this vileness.
— Emma Mitchell 💙 (@silverpebble) September 21, 2025
“You’ve caused [Pennie] huge pain. Maybe that was your aim; to erode a successful but vulnerable woman.”
A spokesperson for Canongate Books told The Times: “Canongate refutes completely this baseless allegation made against Len Pennie.
“Laika’s story has inspired many artists and writers since 1957, and even the briefest look at both poems in full shows them to be completely different in both content and style.
“We are exceptionally proud to publish Len, and stand fully behind both her and her original work.”
Asked for further comment, a spokesperson for Canongate Books told The National: “The full statement already appears in The Times, and there’s not much further to say on it really – we lodged a complaint because we felt the review to be making implications that were unwarranted, and wanted to defend our author, but we don’t expect it to go any further.”
