Saltire Society Literary Awards
The Saltire Society Literary Awards are made annually by the Saltire Society. The awards seek to recognise books which are either by "living authors of Scottish descent or residing in Scotland," or which deal with "the work or life of a Scot or with a Scottish question, event or situation."[1] The awards have been described as "the premiere prize for writing by Scots or about Scotland."[2]
The first Saltire Society Book Award was given in 1937, the year after the Saltire Society was established. No awards were given after 1939 due to the Second World War, and the next award was made 1956. The History Book of the Year award was inaugurated in 1965. In 1982 sponsorship was obtained and since then the awards have been made annually. First books have been recognised since 1988, and in 1998 the award for Scottish Research Book of the Year was established.[3] The Saltire Society currently presents awards in the four following categories:[4]
- Scottish Book of the Year
- Scottish First Book of the Year
- Scottish History Book of the Year
- Scottish Research Book of the Year
In addition, an annual student travel bursary is awarded to a creative writing graduate, and the Ross Roy Medal is awarded for the best PhD thesis on a subject related to Scottish literature.[4] A one-off Homecoming Book of the Year award was made in 2009 to celebrate the "Year of Homecoming": the award was presented to American professor Donald Worster for his biography of John Muir, A Passion for Nature.[5]
Past winners
Scottish Book of the Year
The Scottish Book of the Year award was established in 1937,[3] and has been given annually since 1982. The award is open to novels, poetry and plays as well as non-fiction works on Scottish subjects.[4]
| Year | Work | Author | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Highland River | Neil Gunn | [3] |
| The Lord Bothwell | Robert Gore-Browne | ||
| 1939 | Three Plays | Robert McLellan | [3] |
| 1956 | One Foot in Eden | Edwin Muir | [3] |
| 1958 | Scotland Before History | Stuart Piggott | [3] |
| 1982 | Lanark: A Life in Four Books | Alasdair Gray | [6] |
| 1983 | Collected Poems | Derick Thompson | |
| Poems of Thirty Years | Edwin Morgan | ||
| 1984 | God and the Poets: The Gifford Lectures | David Daiches | |
| Intimate Voices: Selected Works | Tom Leonard | ||
| 1985 | Collected Poems | Norman MacCaig | |
| 1986 | A Storm From Paradise | Stuart Hood | |
| 1987 | The Stories of Muriel Spark | Muriel Spark | |
| 1988 | Games with Shadows | Neal Ascherson | |
| The Enchanted Glass: Britain and its Monarchy | Tom Nairn | ||
| 1989 | A Question of Loyalties | Allan Massie | |
| 1990 | O Choille gu Bearradh / From Wood to Ridge | Sorley MacLean | |
| 1991 | Scottish Art 1460–1990 | Duncan Macmillan | |
| 1992 | Collected Poems | Iain Crichton Smith | |
| 1993 | Robert Burns - A Biography | James A. Mackay | |
| 1994 | Beside the Ocean of Time | George Mackay Brown | |
| 1995 | Black Sea | Neal Ascherson | |
| 1996 | The Kiln | William McIlvanney | |
| 1997 | Grace Notes | Bernard MacLaverty | |
| 1998 | The Sopranos | Alan Warner | |
| 1999 | Pursuits | George Bruce | |
| 2000 | The Lantern Bearers | Ronald Frame | |
| 2001 | Medea | Liz Lochhead | |
| 2002 | Clara | Janice Galloway | [7] |
| 2003 | Joseph Knight | James Robertson | |
| 2004 | In Another Light | Andrew Greig | [8] |
| 2005 | Case Histories | Kate Atkinson | [9] |
| 2006 | A Lie About My Father | John Burnside | |
| 2007 | Day | A. L. Kennedy | |
| 2008 | Kieron Smith, boy | James Kelman | [10] |
| 2009 | The Bard: Robert Burns, a Biography | Robert Crawford | [11] |
| 2010 | And the Land Lay Still | James Robertson | [12] |
| 2011 | A Life in Pictures | Alasdair Gray | |
| 2012 | Mo Said She was Quirky | James Kelman | |
| 2013 | Something Like Happy | John Burnside | [13] |
| 2014 | The Scottish Town in the Age of Enlightenment 1740-1820 | Bob Harris and Charles McKean | [14] |
| 2015 | The Book of Strange New Things | Michel Faber | [15] |
Scottish First Book of the Year
The first book of the year award was inaugurated in 1988 and recognises an author who has not previously published a book. As with the book of the year, the award is open to novels, plays, poems and non-fiction.[4]
| Year | Work | Author | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Richt Noise | Raymond Vettese | |
| 1989 | Cells of Knowledge | Sian Hayton | |
| 1990 | The Ballad of Sawney Bain | Harry Tait | |
| 1991 | Night Geometry And The Garscadden Trains | A. L. Kennedy | |
| 1992 | Adoption Papers | Jackie Kay | |
| 1995 | Free Love and Other Stories | Ali Smith | |
| 1996 | Slattern | Kate Clanchy | |
| 1997 | A Painted Field | Robin Robertson | |
| 1998 | The Pied Piper’s Poison | Christopher Wallace | |
| Two Clocks Ticking | Dennis O'Donnell | ||
| 1999 | Some Rain Must Fall | Michel Faber | |
| 2000 | The Rising Sun | Douglas Galbraith | |
| 2001 | In the Blue House | Meaghan Delahunt | |
| 2002 | Burns the Radical | Liam McIlvanney | [7] |
| The Cutting Room | Louise Welsh | ||
| 2003 | Ath - Aithne | Martainn Mac an t-Saoir | |
| 2004 | Stargazing | Peter Hill | [8] |
| 2005 | Amande's Bed | John Aberdein | [9] |
| 2006 | George Mackay Brown: The Life | Maggie Fergusson | |
| 2007 | Fresh - A novel | Mark McNay | |
| 2008 | The Good Mayor | Andrew Nicoll | |
| 2009 | The Tin-Kin | Eleanor Thom | [11] |
| 2010 | The History of Orkney Literature | Simon W. Hall | [12] |
| The Death of Lomond Friel | Sue Peebles | ||
| 2011 | The Echo Chamber | Luke Williams | |
| 2012 | The Last Highlander | Sarah Fraser | |
| 2013 | Air Cuan Dubh Drilseach | Tim Armstrong | [13] |
| As Far As I Can See | Eunice Buchanan | ||
| 2014 | Moontide | Niall Campbell | [14] |
| 2015 | On the Edges of Vision | Helen McClory | [16] |
Scottish History Book of the Year
 |
The award for History Book of the Year was established in 1965 in honour of the historian Agnes Mure Mackenzie (1891–1955).[17]
| Year | Work | Author | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Thomas Chalmers and the Godly Commonwealth | Stewart J. Brown | |
| 1983 | |||
| 1984 | |||
| 1985 | |||
| 1986 | A Century of the Scottish People 1830–1950 | T. C. Smout | |
| 1987 | |||
| 1988 | |||
| 1989 | |||
| 1990 | |||
| 1991 | |||
| 1992 | |||
| 1993 | |||
| 1994 | James I | Michael Brown | |
| 1995 | The Great Highland Famine | Tom Devine | |
| 1996 | |||
| 1997 | The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III 1371–1406 | Stephen Boardman | |
| 1998 | The Identity of the Scottish Nation | William Ferguson | |
| 1999 | Patrick Sellar and the Highland Clearances: Homicide, Eviction and the Price of Progress | Eric Richards | |
| 2000 | The Rough Wooings: Mary Queen Of Scots 1542–1551 | Marcus Merriman | |
| 2001 | The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates 1424–1488 | Roland Tanner | [18] |
| 2002 | The Culture of Protestantism in Early Modern Scotland | Margo Todd | |
| 2004 | Adventurers and Exiles: The Great Scottish Exodus | Marjory Harper | [8] |
| 2005 | David II | Michael Penman | [9] |
| 2006 | Native Lordships in Medieval Scotland: The Earldoms of Strathearn and Lennox c.1140–1365 | Cynthia J. Neville | [19] |
| 2006 | Scotland's Historic Heraldry | Bruce A. McAndrew | [20] |
| 2007 | The Scots and the Union | Christopher Whatley | [21] |
| 2008 | From Pictland to Alba 789–1070 | Alex Woolf | [22] |
| 2009 | A History of Scottish Philosophy | Alexander Broadie | [23] |
| 2010 | Whaur Exremes Meet: Scotland's Twentieth Century | Catriona M. M. MacDonald | [24] |
| 2011 | The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth Century History | Emma Rothschild | [25] |
| 2012 | A Military History of Scotland | E. Spiers, J. Crang and M. Strickland (editors) | [17] |
| 2013 | An Enlightened Duke: The Life of Archibald Campbell (1682–1761), Earl of Ilay, 3rd Duke of Argyll | Roger L. Emerson | [13] |
| 2014 | Scottish Gods, Religion in the Modern Scotland 1900-2012 | Steve Bruce | [14] |
| 2015 | A Chasm In Time - Scottish War Art And Artists in the Twentieth Century | Patricia R. Andrew | [26] |
Scottish Research Book of the Year
This award was initiated in 1998, and is made jointly by the Saltire Society and the National Library of Scotland. It aims to recognise books which "represent a significant body of research and offer new insight or dimension to the subject".[4]
| Year | Work | Author | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language | Charles Jones | |
| 1999 | The Poems of William Dunbar (Volumes I & II) | Priscilla Bawcutt | |
| 2000 | Jessie Kesson: Writing her Life | Isobel Murray | |
| The Highland Pipe and Scottish Society | William Donaldson | ||
| 2001 | The Scottish Book Trade 1500−1720 | Alastair J. Mann | |
| 2002 | Sorley Maclean, Poems to Eimhir | Christopher Whyte (editor) | [7] |
| Public Sculpture of Glasgow | Ray McKenzie | ||
| 2003 | The Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection | Emily B. Lyle and Katherine Campbell | |
| 2004 | The Last of England? | Randall Stevenson | [8] |
| Maritime Enterprise and Empire: Sir William MacKinnon and his Business Network 1823–1893 | J. Forbes Munro | ||
| 2005 | Weights and Measures In Scotland | R. D. Connor and A. D. C. Simpson, edited by A. Morrison-Low | [9] |
| 2006 | Dùthchas Nan Gàidheal: Selected Essays of John MacInnes | Michael Newton | |
| 2007 | Scotland's Books: The Penguin History of Scottish Literature | Robert Crawford | |
| 2008 | Scott's Shadow: The Novel in Romantic Edinburgh | Ian Duncan | |
| 2009 | Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary | Christian Kay, Jane Roberts, Michael Samuels and Irené Wotherspoon | [11] |
| 2010 | Robert Burns & Pastoral: Poetry and Improvement in Late Eighteenth-Century Scotland | Nigel Leask | [12] |
| Adam Smith: an Enlightened Life | Nicholas Phillipson | ||
| 2011 | Beyond the Last Dragon | James McGonigal | |
| 2012 | Scotland: Mapping the Nation | C. Fleet, C. Withers and M. Wilkes | |
| 2013 | The Sunlit Summit: The Life of W. H. Murray | Robin Lloyd-Jones | [13] |
| 2015 | Clubbing Together: Ethnicity, Civility and Formal Sociability in the Scottish Diaspora to 1930 | Tanja Bueltmann | [27] |
See also
- Scottish literature
- Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards, formerly the Scottish Arts Council Book Awards
- List of prizes, medals and awards
- List of prizes named after people
References
- ^ "Awards". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "Welsh a surprise contender for Saltire Awards". The Scotsman. November 6, 2002.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Saltire Society Book of the Year Awards: A celebration of twenty five years of literature". Scottish Arts Council. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ^ a b c d e "Scottish Book of the Year Winner Announced". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "Saltire Society Literary Awards - Winning Books". Books from Scotland. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ Glass, Rodge (2012). Alasdair Gray: A Secretary's Biography. Bloomsbury. p. 166. ISBN 9781408833353.
- ^ a b c "Saltire awards ceremony at the library". National Library of Scotland. 12 December 2002.
- ^ a b c d "Saltire book awards announced". National Library of Scotland. 3 December 2004.
- ^ a b c d "Saltire Society awards announced at NLS". National Library of Scotland. 20 November 2005.
- ^ "Kelman takes top literary prize as Saltire awards get boost", The Herald, Phil Miller, November 29, 2008.
- ^ a b c "Burns Biography takes Saltire main prize". National Library of Scotland. 27 November 2009.
- ^ a b c "Salmond's favourite book wins Saltire Society award". The Herald. 30 November 2010. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b c d Brian Ferguson (15 November 2013). "Gaelic science fiction wins literary prize". The Scotsman. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
- ^ a b c "Academic work named Saltire Book of the Year". BBC News. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
- ^ "Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award". Saltire Society Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Scottish First Book of the Year Award". Saltire Society Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Edinburgh Saltire Success". University of Edinburgh. 7 January 2013.
- ^ "Prestigious prize for Scottish Parliament research". University of St Andrews. 23 April 2003.
- ^ "Native Lordship in Medieval Scotland". Four Courts Press. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "History Book of the Year 2006". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "History Book of the Year 2007". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "History Book of the Year 2008". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "History Book of the Year 2009". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "History Book of the Year 2010". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "History Book of the Year 2011". Saltire Society. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- ^ "Scottish History Book of the Year Award". Saltire Society Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- ^ "Scottish Research Book of the Year Award". Saltire Society Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
- Strachan, Anne (1989) Prizewinning Literature: UK Literary Award Winners Library Association Publishing Ltd. ISBN 0-85365-558-8