The Callum MacDonald Memorial Award 2013

One of the most fascinating and beautiful niche markets of Scottish literature is the publication of poetry pamphlets.  The printing of pamphlets to disseminate ideas is not a new phenomenon, indeed it’s been happening in Britain and the rest of Europe since the Early Modern Period (a wise historian will no doubt be able to find even earlier examples of printing), and yet it is something that has fallen to the wayside.  Creating attractive and exciting printed material takes time and passion, and in an internet-led world in which convenience has won the battle for the mainstream audience’s attention, it takes a certain kind of person to commit their time and passion to creating a unique printed pamphlet.

Thankfully, here in Scotland we do show our appreciation for those individuals who believe there is something to cherish in holding onto a brand new printed pamphlet.  Scotland’s best and brightest in pamphlet poetry gathered on the evening of Thursday 16^th May 2013 to celebrate the 13^th Callum MacDonald Memorial Award “created to recognise publishing skill and effort; to validate the practice ofpoetry publication in pamphlet form; and to encourage the preservation ofprinted material of this kind in the national collections.”  The ceremony, held annually at the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, was formal yet friendly affair.  Although I had never come across much pamphlet poetry or the publishers and authors who created it before, I felt welcomed and knew that I would never ignore the importance of pamphlet poetry again!

The ceremony began with a speech from Darryl Mead, Dept. National Librarian, who thanked the audience for attending, appearing genuinely pleased to see such a large and eager audience.  After Mr. Mead came the wonderful Tessa Ransford who, as always, exquisitely articulated her love of poetry and the sheer quantity of the submissions for this year’s awards.  After this, Lesley Harrison whose pamphlet Ecstatics: A Language of Birds published by Brae Editions won the award in 2012, took to the stage to explain how the writers award, a two-week position as Michael Marks Poet in Residence at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece, was an exceptional experience that not only allowed her to be surrounded by ‘beautiful places and people’, but also enriched her subsequent writing.

Finally, Athens born Lady Marks took to the stage to give a brief account of her adoration for Scotland and its arts and literary heritage, explaining that this was the reason why she was passionate about supporting the Callum MacDonald Memorial Award.  Her Greek lilt filled the room with anticipation as she read the shortlist:

• HanselCooperative Press and WoodendPublishing for Reflections by Yvonne Gray and John Cumming
• HappenstancePress for After the Creel Fleet by Niall Campbell
• MariscatPress for On Time by Donald Mackay
•  NewVoices Press for Holding by Maggie Rabatski
•  RoncadoraPress for Nest by Tom Pow and Hugh Bryden
• StewedRhubarb Press for The Glassblower Dances by Rachel McCrum
  

After the congratulatory applause, Lady Marks revealed the runner-up: Roncadora Press for Nest by Tom Pow and Hugh Bryden.  Roncadora Press are well known to the Callum MacDonald Memorial Award, having been shortlisted for Hugh Brydon’s If Ah Could Talk Tae the Airtists in 2008 and winning the award in 2009 for Postcards from the Hedge, a collection of poetry by Hugh McMillan with Illustrations by Hugh Bryden. 

Lady Marks with 2009 winners Hugh Bryden and Hugh McmIllan

Next came the most anticipated moment of the night, the disclosure of the winner: Stewed Rhubarb Press for The Glassblower Dances by Rachel McCrum.  Rachel and her fellow creator at Stewed Rhubarb, James T Harding, took to the stage to receive their reward:  a cheque for £800, which is awarded to the publisher of the pamphlet and the Callum Macdonald Quaich, which winners keep for 12 months.  Rachel will also take up the two-week position as Michael Marks Poet in Residence at the Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies in Greece later this summer.  Once the audience had applauded- noticeably the loudest applaud of the evening-Rachel took to the podium to read from her winning collection.  Rachel later revealed that, while James had known about their win for a couple of weeks, he did not tell her, so her “tonguetiedness” and beaming smile was “entirely genuine”.

Stewed Rhubarb Press was founded in 2012, just under a year ago, according to founder and Editor James T Harding, who admits that he “didn't go into pamphlet publishing for the glitz and glamour” and found winning the coveted poetry pamphlet award a “surreal affair”.  For a new publisher to win such a prestigious award for niche book production is not only tremendously exciting, but it is also hugely influential.  Both Rachel and James looked genuinely thrilled to receive the award.  They are young and vibrant, and you can’t help but feel excited about their future in poetry.

Both Rachel and James feel it to be a huge achievement to have won: “It's a serious honour to have won this award, and [we] can't thank this year's Callum Macdonald team enough for their recognition and encouragement."  The vital word here is ‘recognition’.  As a young publication Stewed Rhubarb Press will be able to absorb such recognition and use it to project itself into the world of indie publications.  Scottish poetry pamphlets may very well be consigned to independent book shops, subscription or word of mouth, but that’s not to say with publishers like Stewed Rhubarb at the helm this is where they will stay.   The duo clearly views poetry as an important art form, and are not willing to let it die.  Rachel is well known for her performance poetry and is also one half of ‘lyrical cabaret’ duo Rally & Broad.  There is something new, modern and long-lasting about this new wave of poetry.

Rachel McCrum and James T Harding

For Rachel McCrum, new developments in digital design and printing allows for young people like herself to get her material into the hands of interested reads:  “Poetry pamphlets are important, and with advances in digital publishing and design, it is easier than ever to produce high quality, affordable booklets. When James and I started Stewed Rhubarb last July, we had no idea we'd be standing on the steps of the NLS holding the Callum Macdonald quaithe less than a year later, but I am so, so glad that we did decide to start it. For me, publishing the pamphlet was the first step to taking myself a little more seriously as a writer. It was also a way to get my work out there - I perform at gigs at least once a week, and having portable, beautiful little collections that I could sell for less than the price of a pint has been a huge boost.”

Rachel McCrum
Image courtesy of Chris Scott,
Literary Paparazzo

Ultimately, everything about Stewed Rhubarb Press is exciting, and fits snugly within the current trend for independent and self-publication.  Their win on Thursday evening was significant, not just for Rachel and James, but for the entire poetry pamphlet scene, because they have adapted an age-old niche object and made it interesting and exciting, and I for one, cannot wait to see where this accolade takes them.

All of the pamphlets mentioned above are available to purchase but, as you can imagine, they have relatively small print runs.  The best way to find about getting your hands on them is getting in touch with the writers and publishers directly.

More information can be found at the dedicated Scottish Pamphlet Poetry site.

Making a Mark: Scottish Writers Against the World

In early February, the nominations were announced for The South Bank Sky Arts Awards.  This all-encompassing literature and arts award has a wide range of categories including Best Film, Dance, Pop Music, Visual Art, TV Drama...  The list, it seems, is endless.  But of course, there is one particular award, for Literature published in 2012, which caught my eye.

In spite of the award going almost unnoticed in the press, the nominees are not new to the literary award circuit.  The award behemoth, Hilary Mantel, is nominated for her Man Booker and Costa Book Award winning novel Bring Up the Bodies, as is her fellow Man Booker nominee Will Self for his novel Umbrella.  Despite the shortlist so far being a turgid repetition of the rest of the 2012 literary awards, the final nominee, a relatively unknown author from Aberdeen, sits alongside these literary titans.  Kerry Hudson, whose debut novel Tony HoganBought Me An Ice-Cream Float Before He Stole Me Ma was also shortlisted for the Saltire Society’s First Book of the Year Award, the Guardian First BookAward and the Green Carnation Prize, is clearly no stranger to seeing her name adorn lists.  Yet The South Bank Award nomination is, in my opinion, a completely different, and an incredibly exciting, ball game.

First of all, this is the first award Kerry Hudson has been nominated for which doesn’t acknowledge her as either an “LGBT” or “debut” author.  Such categorisations automatically limit the potential of a literary award.  When literary awards are confined to such criteria it not only barricades certain ‘types’ of authors within the award, but can also prevent readers and media from seeing in.  ‘First’ book awards do not receive sufficient media coverage simply because debut authors and their novels are not considered to be ‘established’ enough to warrant the column inches (it’s a somewhat ironic cycle: first novels get little coverage because they aren’t “established”, but struggle to garner reputations because of the lack of coverage).  The Guardian First Book Award receives substantial coverage because it is backed by the newspaper itself.  As a consequence then, even though Hudson has received shortlist nominations from three prestigious literary awards, her individuality, and the significance of these nominations, has been lost under the umbrella of the ‘debut’.

Photos courtesy of Nick Tucker Photography

Secondly, we cannot underestimate the magnitude of the 2013 South Bank Awards shortlist for literature.  There are only three books and that’s a very short shortlist.  Hudson is up against Man Booker nominated and winning authors.  This should not be viewed, as Hudson herself has self-deprecatingly suggested, as ‘not so much theunderdog as the under-flea on the underdog’, but as a debut novelist being acknowledged as being on par with the established literary elite.  In this nomination, Hudson is not the ‘debut’ or the “underdog”, she is an equal to Man Booker prize nominated and winning authors.  And I genuinely believe her novel should be acknowledged as such.

Finally, despite now living in London Hudson was born in Aberdeen, and can therefore be classed as a ‘Scottish’ author.  Admittedly, it seems slightly hypocritical to harp on about Hudson’s heritage when I have just criticised literary culture for being obsessed with categorisation, but it is simply a fact that Scottish authors rarely get acclamation from the big literary awards South of the Border, so when they do, we really should take notice.  For example, taking three major national literary awards from last year-the Man Booker, the Costa Book Awards and the National Book Awards-we will see that Scottish authors hardly graced the shortlists, never mind won. (When I say “major” I refer to the media coverage/influence/monetary value the awards have.  There are literally hundreds of literary awards, but only a handful makes it into the print/social media.)

So, the Man Booker 2012 shortlist:

 Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists (Myrmidon Books)

Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (And Other Stories/Faber & Faber)

Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies  (Fourth Estate)

 Alison Moore, The Lighthouse (Salt)

Will Self, Umbrella (Bloomsbury)

 Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Faber & Faber)

2012 Man Booker Lit Award Shortlistees (post Mantel's win).

While there was clearly a concerted and honourable effort to acknowledge independent publishers in this shortlist, it was not exactly representative of the Commonwealth - with four out of its six nominees being English.

Next, the Costa Book Awards.  Previously known as the Whitbread Book Awards, the 2012 shortlists for the Costa Book Award categories (Children’s Novel, First Novel, Novel of the Year, Biography and Poetry) contained…wait for it…ONE Scottish author  -  Kathleen Jamie - who won the Costa Poetry Book of the Year Award.  Jamie was the only Scottish author represented out of the 20 authors shortlisted.

And finally, the 2012 National Book Awards.  Now sponsored by Specsavers, the self-acclaimed ‘Oscars of the publishing industry’ are divided into a horrendously complicated set of categories that I will just link you to here.  Because of the vast array of names and awards offered by the National Book Awards, I won’t list all the shortlistees here.  But a glance over the list offers a similar, albeit cruder, conclusion to those above.

Essentially the point I am trying to make is that Scottish writers and writing is wholly underrepresented in the national literary and cultural awards circuit.  Which is why Hudson’s nomination alongside two (very) English literary heavyweights offers a stark contrast to the awards of last year, and also makes a very impressive statement (whether it means to or not) regarding the legitimacy of first time writers and, in Hudson’s case, their Scottish heritage.  While The South Bank Sky Arts Awards shortlists might not have garnered the same interest as the Man Booker or Costa Book Award shortlists (although I fail to see why, seeing as Mantel is the only author people are talking about at the moment), I only hope that when discussing the prize winner – whether it is Hudson, Self of Mantel – the judges of the South Bank literary prize make a clear acknowledgement of the magnitude of Hudson’s appearance on the shortlist, because it really should not go unnoticed. 

The South Bank Sky Arts Awards will be shown on Sky Arts 1 HD on the 14th March. 9:30pm.

Kerry Hudson will be at the fantastic Aye Write Book Festival in Glasgow in April.  Click here for more details on her event, and here for the festival's full programme.

You can buy Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float from Waterstones and all other good independent high street booksellers (who pay their taxes!)

The Elizabeth Soutar Bookbinding Competition - 2012 Awards

While Literary Awards are typically viewed as being focused upon the written word and narratives, the changing landscape of literature will, I believe, alter the way in which we view the physical object of the book and its production (more on this here).

Some awards, such as the little known Elizabeth Soutar Bookbinding Awards, move away from the words on the page and focus upon the manual craft and imagination involved in the creation of the book itself.  The Elizabeth Soutar Bookbinding Competition is an annual prize awarded to individuals who practice the fading art and craft of bookbinding.  In its 20^th year, the award is divided into four categories: Best Creative Binding, Best Creative Binding (Student entry), Best Craft Binding and Best Craft Binding (Student entry).  The competition is open to all residents of the EU, which makes for a spectacularly varied shortlist and artistic influences, and the entry must be ‘a single example of a craft or creative biding and have been bound exclusively for this competition’.

Such rules make this award particularly unique in its treatment of the book.  The award does not reward the text itself, or the mass-produced bound book, instead, it recognises the intricate and delicate craft involved with decorating and preserving a text.  This year’s judges, Darryl Mead (Deputy National Librarian, National Library of Scotland), Jim Hutcheson (Creative Director Birlinn Ltd. Publishing) and Mark Burns (City of Glasgow College), looked for ‘individual expression and originality’ when taking into consideration the submissions.

The awards ceremony, held at the National Library of Scotland on the 5^th February was a modest and remarkably short affair (the ceremony itself lasted no longer than twenty minutes).  While reserved, the audience-a mixture of shortlistees, artists, academics and amateur bookbinders-were clearly a galvanized bunch, who congratulated all winners heartily (despite their moment of fame being closer to 15 seconds than 15 minutes).  What’s more, the shortlist and winners list exposes the geographical broadness of this award.  Three of the four winners were from Spain, the fourth coming from the Netherlands, and as you will see from below, this is not an unusual coincidence: most of the shortlisted bookbinders come from mainland Europe, particularly Spain.  Perhaps the UK is still not quite ready to appreciate the artistic elements of the book, but at least the National Library of Scotland are giving some exposure to this celebration of beautifully preserved books.

The rules of the competition state that entries should be ‘a single example’ and be ‘bound exclusively’ for the competition and Entry Forms are now available for the 2013 Elizabeth Soutar Bookbinding Awards.  Perhaps more of us should give it a go, that way, the event will become a greater celebration of original artistic creativity and books!

All of the winning and shortlisted books are exhibited in the National Library of Scotland’s exhibition space and, unfortunately, photography is not allowed here so I cannot show you images of all winning texts (any images used I have sourced from the artists themselves).  However, the books are to be exhibited for the next couple of weeks and I urge all of you to go and have a look at them.  All are stunning, and some are quite remarkable!

Winners and awards:

     

Best Creative Binding

 Pilar Calahorra (Spain)

£1,200

Best Creative Binding (student entry)

Raul Garcia de Madinabeitia (Spain)

£600

Best Craft Binding
Juan A. Fernández Argenta (Spain)

£1,200

Best Craft Binding (student entry)
Annie Van Bruggen Mevissen (Netherlands)
£600

Commendations from the judges:

Andrew Brown (UK)
María Inéz Roldán Morales (Spain)

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, a Canongate publication
of 2005 Re bound - Cotton binka fabric with embroidery
silk and needle, digital photography

My own personal highlights from shortlistees:

Penny Stanford (UK)
A beautifully presented edition of Margaret Atwood's The Penelopiad

Toon Van Camp (Belgium)

A large, glossy and ornate piece by this well established and multi-award winning binder.

Patricia Burge (UK)
A striking binding of Yellow Wolf: His Own Story by Lucullus Virgil McWhorter.

For more information on the awards go to: http://www.nls.uk/about-us/awards#bookbinding 

The commodification of the written word.

Part of the reason why Literary Awards remain such a contentious issue within popular culture and academia is their apparent commodification of the written word.  Indeed, consumerism is intricately linked to the production, retail and consumption of literature, and within this system the book-the physical object which contains the words which formulate narratives, ideas and criticism-becomes a consumer item in itself.

This is an important point to remember with regards to Literary Awards for several reasons; one being that we should never forget that the written word, by and large, is seen as a means of income.  Yes it is used to convey a message, but it is also a product that can be bought and sold.  Such buying and selling does not just relate to the author/publisher selling their work to a reader, it also relates to the sale of translation and film rights and economic transactions that involve corporations and industry from all over the world. 

But the main reason why it is imperative that we consider the Literary Award in terms of the economic exchange of the written word for monetary value, is because Literary Awards are seen as a form of income in themselves, both in terms of the monetary award (if one is presented to the winner) and the increase in sales of books expected from a Literary Award shortlist or win.  While there are many studies that have surveyed both the increased and unaffected sales results of Literary Award winners and shortlistees, it is a general rule of thumb that a winning author will see a dramatic hike in sales and fame.

The latter half of this equation, the potential ‘fame-factor’ of prize culture and the subsequent media coverage that ensues, cannot be understated.  If, as noted above, the book as an object catapulted into a series of economic transactions, more often than not so too is the author, who becomes a celebrity, representative of the ‘best’ in their field of cultural production.

When this happens, the author’s name, brand and iconography becomes the selling point. So much so, that at this year’s London Book Fair there will be an industry seminar dedicated to just this titled: Why Every Author Needs to Know Their Author Brand.  As well as being able to splash the title of whatever awards the author or novel has been shortlisted for or won, the author’s name, and in some rare cases the design of their books/typography (see examples below) become representative of that author.  So much so, in some cases, that the author supersedes the very writing that made them famous.

In the past, I’ve dabbled in this area of book/author analysis, and I personally think it is a very fruitful area of research, particularly when it is considered in terms of the book as commodity.  I’ll use three authors by way of example: Stephen King, Ian Rankin and Hilary Mantel.  These authors offer a (relatively) varied cross section example of the different ways in which an author’s celebrity and award winning comes into play with regards to their novels, or as I like to call them, products.

Stephen King is an impressive example of the author as goliath.  I won’t list his sale figures and assumed income from bookselling, because I think it is fair to imagine both figures would be unimaginably impressive.  The point I would like to make is how King is one of the best authors at using his name as a selling point on the front cover of his books, despite winning very few literary Literary Awards (of course, King has won a whole host of awards, but he has never won what literary critics would consider a ‘literary’ award).  So, looking at a selection of King’s book covers from different times in his career, it becomes clear that his name, or brand, becomes the key feature:

www.abebooks.com

As you can see from this First Edition, first printing of King's debut novel, compared to the title of the book 'Carrie', King's name is printed in a relatively modest way--perhaps half the size of the book's title. 

www.waterstones.com

www.amazon.co.uk

However, these two examples of later editions of King's debut novel-the one on the left is an Amazon Kindle edition and the one on the right a 2011 paperback reprint of the novel-show just how significant the authors name has become.  King's name is now the focal point of the novels front cover.  And in the case of the 2011 paperback, his name has been accompanied by the helpful reminder that this novel comes from a 'No1 Bestselling Writer'.  

While King is an exceptional and, to some extent, slightly off topic (for the purposes of this blog) author, this kind of authorial branding is typical of some of our very own genre fiction writers.  Ian Rankin, a bestselling author whose popular crime series which followed the trials and tribulations of the unorthodox Detective Inspector Rebus was turned into an extraordinarily successful television series has also become a brand (and, to some extent, so has his eponymous protagonist Rebus). 

Rankin's early work, which included the introduction of DI Rebus as well as stand alone novels, were well received, but not huge sellers.  His 'big break' came with the release of his 15th novel, but 8th in the Rebus series Black and Blue, which won the Crime Writer's Association's Gold Dagger Award for the Best Crime Novel of the Year.  Indeed, like King, despite huge critical acclaim and bestseller status, Rankin has apparently failed to garner the kind of prestige that would warrant a 'literary' award win.  When asked by an audience member at an Edinburgh Book Festival show why crime fiction and, unusually enough, Rebus himself, been recognised nationally by the Man Booker or a similar major literary prize, Rankin acknowledges that in the UK some genres of fiction, science fiction, historic fiction and crime for example, are seen as "lesser forms" and "not literature".  Noting how this is not the case in all cultures, Rankin suggests that the only way this can change in the UK is for crime writing to "keep getting better and better" and "be relevant".  He also continues to say how, when 'literary' authors such as Martin Amis and Susan Hill (his picks) write a crime novel, it "ceases to be a crime novel" (this cracking interview with Ian Rankin can be found here). That said, it is telling, in terms of Literary Awards and authorial popularity, that Rankin's so-called 'breakthrough' novel was an award winner. 

Akin to the analysis of King earlier, here are a couple of examples of how Rankin's book typography has changed over the years with his growing popularity and bestseller status.

Rankin novels circa 2010 with the familiar  tagline 'The
Number One Bestseller'. Orion Publishing.

First Edition of Rankin's debut novel The Flood.
Polygon 1986.

Finally, we come to the topical and contemporary example of Hilary Mantel.  To be fair, Mantel has bucked the trend when it comes to Literary Awards.  Her 12th novel, Wolf Hall won the Man Booker Prize in 2009, fending off competition from past winner A S Byatt and regular shortlistee Sarah Waters.  In an alarming example of coincidence, in 2009 Mantel also beat J M Coetzee to the post, Coetzee being one of the three male authors who, alongside Mantel herself, have won the Man Booker prize twice.  This second win came in 2012 for Mantel's 13th novel, and sequel to previous winner Wolf Hall, Bringing Up the Bodies.  Another reason why Mantel's win is a statistical anomaly-besides also winning her the Costa Book of the Year Award-is the fact that her novel falls within the boundaries of the 'historic novel', a genre we already know is usually assumed to be a "lesser" genre of fiction.

Original First Edition, 2009.

Paperback edition, March 2010.

All in all, Mantel is a perfect contemporaneous example of the Literary Award win catapulting the author, their brand and their image into the media stratosphere.  And the most remarkable thing about Mantel's change is the sheer speed at which her career has changed from mid-list literary author, to international bestselling household name.  Within three to four years Mantel has broken Literary Award records (including becoming the only woman to win the Man Booker twice), while her two award winning novels have earned her approximately £80,000 in award money alone. 

Paperback edition of Mantel's second Man Booker
prize winning novel Bringing Up the Bodies.

Her Literary Award wins have now become synonymous with the original texts, a mere glance over the development of her book covers over the past few years shows just how quickly her name has usurped the space previously held for the book title itself.
 

And, as if that was not enough, her books are now being treated as collectibles, an accolade some authors have to wait for years, or even death, to achieve.

A collectible Signed Limited Edition Wolf Hall is a steal at £250!  

So, what then, does all of this mean in real terms?  Does it really affect the way we consume literature?  Are consumers more enticed by a name, 'bestseller tagline' or sticker denoting the books position within a Literary Award competition?  Personally, I think it does change the transaction that happens between a reader, retailer and publisher.  Sales go up, debate is enlivened and authors become the topics of conversation in mainstream media (which, let's be honest, doesn't happen nearly enough).  But, is this literary-award-bestseller stardom always a good thing?  I'm not convinced.  Literary Awards canonize literature, highlighting a select few texts and authors out of a possible thousand (or million, if you take the endless possibilities translation can offer).  While Hilary Mantel was this years pick, it will be someone else topping the award lists and sales charts next year.

However, one thing that Literary Award culture is maintaining, as we can see above, is the promotion of the book as an object, or collectible artifact.  Indeed, this idea of the book as a commodity worth having is highly significant, particularly in a world of Kindles, Nooks and Kobos.  What's more, in creating these instant classics, Literary Awards create infamous authors who then become celebrities who can visit bookshops, schools, libraries and festivals signing books and talking to their readership.  This aspect of Literary Award culture, the celebritisation of authors, is only ever going to be a good thing for their fans, but it only adds to the complex economic transactions (which are not always purely monetary, remember) that are created and maintained by Literary Award culture.

Further reading:

James F.English, The Economy of Prestige: Prizes, Awards and the Circulation of Cultural Value (2005, Harvard University Press)

Richard Todd, Consuming Fictions: The Booker Prize and Fiction in Britain T0day 1996, Bloomsbury) -- Although slightly out of date in terms of statistics and winning authors, Todd's theory is still highly relevant and easily applied to the workings of today's Literary Awards.

Where are the Scottish Literary Awards?

Those of you who have read my other blog post and profile information will note that I am currently researching the history of the Saltire Society’s literary prizes.  But while my research leads me down a very specific path, I ended up on this yellow brick road because of my interest in literary prize culture in general.  To me, literary awards are the ‘alternative’ celebrity gossip.  They create a buzz, stimulate debate and get the literary Twitterati all in a flutter…

But when I started my research into the Saltire Society Book Awards (whose winners back catalogue is a who’s who of brilliant Scottish writing) I realised that Scottish literary awards, which short list and reward some of the finest living writers today, are barely mentioned in contemporary news media.  Despite hearing everything about the Man Booker/Costa/National Book Award short lists, award ceremonies, winners and losers, here in Scotland we very rarely hear about the book awards that are administered on our own doorstep.  Scottish literature is one of the richest, most interesting and most consistently critically acclaimed areas of literature in the world, yet when its innovations and aspirations are rewarded it goes unnoticed by the mainstream media. 

This modest blog hopes to rectify this.  My aim is to create somewhere for those interested in Scottish literary awards to come and discuss, argue and rejoice in our healthy literary culture.  I will create profiles for the current awards based in Scotland, and timelines following the awards from the opening of their applications, to final deadlines and ultimately to the announcement of the winner of the award. 

On a side note, I am a new and modest blogger, but will try my best to make this an insightful, and interesting read.