Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year category shortlists

Writer and comedian Rory Bremner has been confirmed as the host of this year’s Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book Awards today (Tuesday 4 March) as the shortlisted titles for each category are announced. He will be MC for the awards event which this year takes place at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose on 20 June. Rory will be presenting the awards for each category winner and announcing which of those four will receive the coveted title of Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year 2008, an accolade which will net the author a total prize of £25,000; Scotland’s richest book award, and the fourth largest in the UK.

Commenting on the awards Rory Bremner stated: ‘It's wonderful to see the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book Awards being presented at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, and I'm delighted to be asked to host the awards. It's a fantastic festival and Melrose is one of Scottish writing's spiritual homes.’

 A total of seventeen titles have been shortlisted in the four categories – Fiction, Non- Fiction, Poetry, and First Book.  This year’s shortlists reflect an eclectic range of stylistic voices and subject-matter from an equally diverse assembly of contemporary Scottish writers.

The shortlists have been agreed by a distinguished judging panel comprised of writer and broadcaster Janice Galloway; Professor of Literature, literary critic and poet Rory Watson; Lilias Fraser, Reader Development Officer at the Scottish Poetry Library; and Dr Gavin Wallace, Scottish Arts Council Head of Literature, who chairs the panel in a non-voting capacity.  The judges now have the difficult job of returning to these titles to decide on the category winners, who will each receive £5,000, as well as the chance to go on and win the overall Book of the Year award.

In a joint statement, the judging panel stressed the difficulties of making the selection and celebrated the quality of the work shortlisted.

‘It was a privilege and a challenge in equal measure to conclude on these four category shortlists, confirming as they do the sheer profusion and vigour of contemporary Scottish writing across all genres. There was particular lustre, strength, and dynamism in the fiction and non-fiction categories, and a similar richness and range in poetry.  Our first books this year boast confident and deeply challenging new voices.  Taken together, all of these titles clearly reflect a culture of huge creative eclecticism and fearless innovation’.

The shortlisted titles are: 

Fiction

The Devil's Footprints by John Burnside (Jonathan Cape)

Old Men in Love by Alasdair Gray (Bloomsbury)

Day by AL Kennedy (Jonathan Cape)

Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith (Canongate)

Non-fiction

Scotland's Books: The Penguin History of Scottish Literature by Robert Crawford (Penguin)

The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane (Granta)

Hamish Henderson: The Making of the Poet (1919-1953) by Timothy Neat (Polygon)

A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr (Macmillan)

Auld Campaigner: A Life of Alexander Scott by David Robb (Dunedin Academic Press)

Poetry

Gift Songs by John Burnside (Jonathan Cape)

Window for a Small Blue Child by Gerrie Fellows (Carcanet Press)

A Book of Lives by Edwin Morgan (Carcanet Press)

Greenfields by Richard Price (Carcanet Press)

Bodywork by Dilys Rose (Luath Press)

First book

Morocco Rococo by Jane McKie (Cinnamon Press)

Shadow Behind the Sun by Remzije Sherifi (Sandstone Press)

The Brainstorm by Jenny Turner (Jonathan Cape)

 The Awards, organised by the Scottish Arts Council since the 1970s, have gone from strength to strength, reflecting the growing prominence and prestige of Scottish literature. This is the second year that the awards have been generously sponsored by Sundial Properties, allowing for increased prize money for both the main winner and in the four new categories. 

The Awards are sponsored by Sundial Properties, Scotland’s leading restoring developer, William Gray Muir, Managing Director of Sundial Properties said: “It is great to see the evidence of another vintage year for Scottish literature.  The Borders Book Festival will be a marvellous place to see the work of all of the finalists celebrated.  That said, I’m very relieved that the job of picking winners is entirely given over to the excellent judging panel!” 

more information can be found at www.scottisharts.org.uk/bookawards

Notes to editors

Notes to Editors

1. The Scottish Arts Council is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) which was established by Royal Charter in 1994 and is also a Lottery distributor. The organisation serves the people of Scotland by fostering arts of excellence through investment, development, research and advocacy. Our corporate aims are: to support artists to fulfil their creative and business potential; to increase participation in the arts; and to place the arts, culture and creativity at the heart of learning. We invest £60m each year, including £15 million of National Lottery funding. For more information visit: www.scottisharts.org.uk
2. The winners of each category will be announced in April.
3. The Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year award ceremony will take place on the evening of 20 June 2008 at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose.
4. The move to the Borders marks the beginning of a programme which will roll out the Awards nationally in partnership with Scotland’s growing number of dynamic book festivals on a rotating basis.
5. The Borders Book Festival takes place in Melrose from 19 – 22 June. For more information visit www.bordersbookfestival.org  A full programme of events will be available from 9 April 2008.
6. The Awards are kindly supported by Sundial Properties. Sundial is Scotland’s leading restoring developer of listed buildings, with a track record stretching back for more than 30 years. The company is family owned and managed.

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council