Shortlist For Saltire Literary Awards Unveiled

Multi-award winning writers and household names and emerging new talents feature in the shortlists for a major book prize.

The shortlists for the six award categories that make up the 2015 Saltire Literary Awards were announced on Thursday 22nd October at events hosted simultaneously in central Edinburgh and central London, featuring Kate Atkinson, Michel Faber and Irvine Welsh.

Past and current Makars and multiple award winners Jim Carruth, Valerie Gillies, Roddy Lumsden and Ryan van Winkle are all in contention for this year’s Poetry Book of the Year Award. Roddy Lumsden was born in St. Andrews.

The Fiction Book of the Year shortlist includes the latest novel from Whitbread-award winning writer Kate Atkinson alongside the most recent book from Michel Faber, whose previous work has been adapted for television and film and won the Saltire First Book Award in 1999. Also featured is 'A Decent Ride' by Irvine Welsh as well as Gaelic language novel 'An Dosan' by Norma Nicleoid, which received the Donald Meek award for Gaelic literature at the 2014 Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Saltire Society Executive Director Jim Tough commented:

“The Saltire Literary Awards continue to go from strength to strength with the number of book award categories increasing from five to six this year. The decision to announce the shortlists simultaneously in London and Edinburgh, with the support of Waterstones booksellers, is a very deliberate attempt to broaden media and public interest in these prestigious awards. Hopefully it will help to ensure that the awards, run by a small charity and chosen by a panel of judges who give their time voluntarily, receive the recognition they deserve.

“Spanning science and academia alongside biography, creative poetry and prose, the sheer scale and variety of writing talent on display here is truly inspiring. In terms of showcasing today’s Scottish literary output in its many varied forms, I think this year’s shortlists have to be the broadest and most comprehensive yet.

“My congratulations to every writer who has made it onto one of these shortlists and to the publishers presenting their work. I wish them the very best of luck when the awards are officially announced next month. Once again, the standards are incredibly high across all categories and I know the judges will find it very difficult to decide who should emerge as the overall winner.”

The six book award categories for the 2015 Saltire Literary Awards, each accompanied by a £2,000 cash prize to the winner, are:

·         The Saltire Scottish Research Book of the Year Award supported by the National Library of Scotland;

·         The Saltire Scottish History Book of the Year Award supported by the Scottish Historical Review Trust;

·         The Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of the Year Award supported by the Scottish Poetry Library;

·         The Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award;

·         The Saltire Society Scottish Fiction Book of the Year Award (new for 2015); and

·         The Saltire Society Scottish Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award (also new for 2015).

The winning book from each of these categories will go on to compete for the coveted Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award, which is accompanied by an £8,000 cash prize and is supported by Creative Scotland.

This year’s Saltire Awards have split the previous Literary Book award into two separate fiction and non-fiction categories, in recognition of the growing popularity and success of non-fiction genres such as biography and nature writing.

The winners of all six award categories will be formally announced at a special ceremony in Edinburgh on the 26^th November along with the winner of the Saltire Publisher of the Year award, also supported by Creative Scotland.