An interview with Peter Mohan, author of "Cheers, Govanhill!"
Peter Mohan, the voice behind the popular blog "Cheers, Govanhill!", shares his journey to becoming a celebrated local writer, and insights into his views on the ever-changing landscape of Govanhill, as well as the inspiration behind his new book.
Interview by Devon McCole | Photos by Simon Murphy
Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending the launch of Peter Mohan’s new book, "Cheers, Govanhill!", at the Dixon Halls. The event was part of this year’s Govanhill Book Festival; referred to as a festival within a festival, as it’s also part of Govanhill International Festival and Carnival. It was a thrill to hear him speak about his work and the vibrant, challenging community that is Govanhill. Peter’s candid reflections on his writing process and the evolution of his blog provided a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a writer deeply connected to his subject.
In our conversation, Peter discussed what inspired him to start his blog, the opposition he faced, how his writing has progressed. Here’s what he had to say.
Q: What got you interested in starting your blog about Govanhill and how did you find yourself interested in writing in general?
Peter Mohan: I grew up in Govan in a house full of books. My parents both became primary teachers late in life, so we always had a focus on education. I quite liked writing at school, then read Jack Kerouac and Laurie Lee as a teenager and wanted to travel and write. The usual terrible adolescent poetry too. Govanhill was such an unusual place that I had to write about it.
Q: You mentioned during the event that you’ve faced some opposition to your blog. Can you expand on this? Also, what advice would you give to aspiring writers who are concerned about putting themselves out there?
Peter Mohan: I don’t want to overstate the opposition to the blog. Some people misunderstood the humour, maybe didn’t appreciate that I was poking fun at a place I was fond of while poking fun at myself and everyone else too.
For others, Govanhill was always an easy target. It’s Nicola Sturgeon’s constituency, with high levels of immigration, crumbling infrastructure, and overcrowding so it became a lightning rod for right-wing scaremongering. I didn’t get too much of that. If I did, I just blocked them.
All writers face criticism. Self-criticism is important too. Honest assessment from friends, family, or other writers helps. You won’t learn if no one tells you how to get better. But you need to be humble enough to learn too.
Q: You also said you put a lot of work into your blog for it to grow. What did that effort look like?
Peter Mohan: I had never really used social media, so I had to work that out. I joined a few Facebook groups, the ‘writing community’ on Twitter, followed some publishers, and trawled through a lot of blogs on WordPress, where I published my blog. But there’s a lot of drivel out there too, and navigating a way through that took ages.
I contacted writers on social media, asked them to share my posts. Darren McGarvey was great. He shared a post within minutes, and the poor guy got abuse from people slagging off Govanhill. I felt a bit guilty.
Marketing your own work is very time-consuming and intrusive. You spend much more time doing that than the enjoyable part, which is writing. Keeping going was the best way to build an audience. People come back more easily to something that appears regularly.
Q: During your book launch, you were asked about the character Davy. Someone thatyou used in your writing early on in the blog but later ditched. How has your blog evolved over the years?
Peter Mohan: The blog was always about Govanhill, but I learned more about the place the more I wrote about it. I found myself painting more detailed, more complex pictures as I went on. It was less about the narrator and more about the location. I think my writing improved too. If you play the piano every day, you’ll get better at it, the same goes for writing.
Q: You sort of warned, before reading some passages aloud, that some passages from years ago aren’t completely aligned with what you believe or feel anymore, but that as someone who isn’t a journalistic writer, you have the benefit of being more free in your writing. How important is it to you as a writer to constantly develop your style? And why did you decide to keep these passages in the book?
Peter Mohan: I didn’t really mean that sections don’t align with what I feel anymore! It’s always good to change your mind, but I don’t disagree with anything I wrote. Some posts maybe didn’t work too well or could have been better written. I posted twice a week while working full-time, so it was quite a tight schedule. But the discipline of posting regularly was really beneficial. Nothing concentrates the mind like a deadline.
As a journalist, you need to be fair, balanced, and accurate. As a blogger, not so much. So I’m only half-joking. As a writer, you try to capture some truth or find some meaning others can relate to. The blog and the book are just my observations and feelings about a place. If people like that, great. If not, I don’t care.
Q: You made an interesting remark during the Q&A about being an observer and writers generally being able to have a more honest first impression of an area as an outsider. How has your relationship with Govanhill changed over the years? Do you think you’re too close to the area now to write about it objectively?
Peter Mohan: It’s always good for a writer to be on the outside. It’s easier to observe, easier to be truthful. I’ve seen Govanhill change a lot, but then Glasgow is always changing.
My relationship with Govanhill changes every few minutes. I am charmed and enamoured one minute, then slapping my forehead and gnashing my teeth the next. I’ll marvel at the diversity and colour and dynamism, then get wound up by rubbish in the street or neighbours shouting.
I don’t think I’m too close to Govanhill to write about it, but it’s difficult coming up with new ways of saying the same thing.
Q: You mentioned that there are three Govanhills and that at times it feels like there’s a visible class war going on, but that the area hasn’t quite been gentrified like others. Why do you think this is the case?
Peter Mohan: There are different Govanhills, like anywhere, depending on your perspective, your background, your circumstances. You’ll have a different experience if you share a bedroom with three sisters than if you moved here from London to a flat your parents bought.
Cathcart Road is different from Victoria Road, and Govanhill Park is very different from Queens Park. There’s a lot of social housing in Govanhill, which means people on lower incomes haven’t been driven out. There’s a Glasgow-ness to Govanhill, a working-class edge which has always been there, which I think prevents Govanhill from becoming gentrified like Finnieston.
Q: You mentioned that it feels like people are listening to Govanhill now. Why do you think this is the case? Do you think blogs like "Cheers, Govanhill!" have had any impact on amplifying Govanhill’s voice?
Peter Mohan: Ten years ago, it felt like no one was listening to folk in Govanhill. I wouldn’t claim any credit for people listening now. The work is done by housing associations, the city council, the community council, the Scottish Government, and Govanhill Baths Community Trust. Formidable people such as Fatima Uygun, Jim Monaghan, and many others. And also the people who decided to stay and fight to make their community better.
Q: Govanhill seems to be a supportive community for creatives like yourself. How have you found this as a writer?
Peter Mohan: People have been very supportive and generous, photographer Simon Murphy in particular. I hope I can help support other writers if possible. I’m grateful to everyone who read the blog. Hopefully, they buy the book too. Writing is quite a solitary affair. You need to be quite antisocial; otherwise, the work won’t get done. Better to save your stories for your computer screen rather than holding court down the pub, as John le Carré said. It is rewarding when people say nice things because you feel less alone, and it helps keep you going.
Q: Where did the idea to put together your new book "Cheers, Govanhill!", a collection of your blog posts, come from?
Peter Mohan: The idea came from the blog itself. Over time, I realised that there was a body of work here that told a story about Govanhill. It made sense to collect these blog posts into a book. The posts capture different moments in time, and putting them together in a book gives a more complete picture of the place.