Two Edinburgh-based writers, an Edinburgh publishing company and an Edinburgh-based publisher have all won prestigious awards as part of the 2018 Saltire Literary Awards, announced at a special ceremony at Edinburgh’s Dynamic Earth on Saturday.
Poet Jay Whittaker received the 2018 Saltire Poetry Book of the Year award for Wristwatch, a debut collection of poems that chart the writer’s personal experience of cancer treatment and recovery, becoming a widow at the age of 44 and taking on the social care system on behalf of elderly relatives.
Growing up in Devon and Nottingham, Jay Whittaker (above) has lived and worked in Edinburgh since 1995. In reaching their decision, the judges described Wristwatch as a “deeply personal and moving collection”, adding: “For a first collection, this is a very assured, mature and coherent piece of work”.
The award for 2018 Research Book of the Year went to Professor of English Literature and Book History at the University of Edinburgh Tom Mole. His book What the Victorians made of Romanticism considers how the popular media of the Victorian era sustained and transformed the reputations of Romantic writers.
It won over three other shortlisted titles covering topics ranging from early Scottish cinema to a study of the ‘father of the Ceylon tea enterprise’ and native Scot James Taylor and an original study of ideas of union in the Scottish literary tradition.
Winner of the 2018 Saltire Publisher of the Year Award with an accompanying cash prize of £1,000 was Edinburgh-based publishing house Canongate Books.
Selecting Canongate as the overall winners from a shortlist of six, the judges noted that “the efforts made by the whole team are striking, adding; “Canongate’s impressive, bold commissioning and strong marketing positions them as a global publishing brand”.
This year’s Saltire Emerging Publisher of the Year Award also went to an Edinburgh-based publishing professional, namely Carolina Orloff of Charco Press (below).
The judges noted Carolina Orloff’s “particular ingenuity, skill and dexterity to work on a number of publishing facets at once to ensure the best quality of work is produced”, concluding: “In a relatively short time, she has become an important part of publishing in Scotland”.
Now firmly established as Scotland’s most prestigious annual book awards, the Saltire Literary Awards are supported by Creative Scotland and celebrate literary and academic excellence across six distinct Award categories. The winner of each individual book award wins a £2,000 cash prize and goes forward to be considered for the headline Saltire Book of the Year award and an accompanying cash prize of £6,000.
The winner of this year’s headline award was All That Remains: A Life in Death, a gripping account of Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology Dame Sue Black’s many encounters with mortal remains, whether in the laboratory, at burial sites, at murder scenes or when investigating mass fatalities due to war or natural disaster.
During a career in forensic science spanning more than three decades, Dame Sue Black’s work has taken her from investigating the scene of horrific war crimes committed in Kosovo to identifying victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Thailand.
Dame Sue Black’s book was also named 2018 Saltire Non-Fiction Book of the Year and is described by the author as being “as much about life as about death”, arguing that, rather than being something to fear, death is something we should accept “as an integral and fundamentally necessary part of life’s process.”
Marking 30 years since the Saltire Literary Awards’ First Book Award category was established in 1988, this year’s ceremony also included the presentation of a special award for “Most Inspiring Saltire First Book Award winner”.
Chosen through a public vote from a shortlist also featuring Kate Clanchy, Jackie Kay, Michel Faber, A.L. Kennedy and Ali Smith, this special award went to Glasgow-based writer Louise Welsh.
Louise Welsh won the Saltire First Book Award in 2002 for her debut crime novel “The Cutting Room”, which subsequently went on to win the 2003 Orange Prize for Fiction. Since then, she has written seven further novels, three plays and two short story collections as well as libretto for a number of touring opera productions.
Poetry Book Award winner Jay Whittaker said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won this award and very surprised.
“There are so many strong contenders in the shortlist. This means a lot to me. It was a very personal book. It talks about some very personal times and I hope I have touched a chord with readers and audiences.”
Asif Khan, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library, said: “The Scottish Poetry Library is delighted to have been able to work with the Saltire Society on the Poetry Book of the Year Award.
“As always, this year’s shortlist was extremely impressive, combining relative newcomers with well-established names, and the judging panel had an unenviable task in picking an overall winner. We are delighted for Jay Whittaker that her first published collection Wristwatch has been named 2018 Saltire Society Poetry Book of the Year. This is the second year-running that a first collection has won the poetry prize, which speaks volumes for Scotland’s emerging poetry talent.”
Research Book Award winner Tom Mole (above) said: “I’m really delighted to have won the Saltire Research Book of the Year.
“It means a great deal to me. It means a great deal that the Saltire Society and the National Library of Scotland are supporting the kind of work that I do.”
Jackie Cromarty, Interim Associate Director of External Relations and Governance at the National Library of Scotland, said: “Exploring everything from national identity to early cinema and from romanticism to tea plantations, this year’s shortlist for Saltire Society Research Book of the Year is a fantastic showcase for the broad array of research work going on in Scotland right now.
“Of course there could only be one winner and Tom Mole’s exploration of the reading and reception of Romantic writers during the Victorian era is entirely deserving of our congratulations.”
Commenting on winning the Publisher of the Year Award, Canongate Publishing Director Francis Bickmore said: “For me this is the reward for long, slow work across months and years and across many, many people.
Building an international publisher is a long, slow slog and this is a great waymarker.”
Canongate’s Chief Operating Officer Kate Gibb added: “I think it’s about the effort that we’ve put in internally to growing our teams and bringing all our staff on.
“e’ve slogged it out to do that and it feels like a real cohesive company now. This reward recognises the work we’ve put in together.”
Winner of the Emerging Publisher of the Year Award Carolina Orloff said: “Winning this award means a great deal.
I didn’t know I would be here two years ago when we started the started the publishing house so it’s a great recognition“.
Marion Sinclair, Chief Executive of Publishing Scotland, who supported this year’s Saltire Publisher and Emerging Publisher awards, said: “Also shortlisted last year, Canongate Books is a worthy winner of this year’s Saltire Publisher Award, beating off competition from an eclectic mix of shortlisted publishing houses covering everything from travel guides to Gaelic language, from poetry to graphic novels.
“Congratulations also to Carolina Orloff, winner of this year’s Saltire Emerging Publisher Award in recognition of her work to promote and popularise Latin American literature here in Scotland.”
Saltire Society Programme Director Sarah Mason commented: “From poetry to publishing, fiction to academic studies, extending the length and breadth of the country and far beyond, this year’s Saltire Literary Awards are a testament to the outstanding calibre of modern Scottish literature in all its varied forms.
“Every one of the individual awards was hotly contested, making the judges’ decisions particularly challenging. My congratulations to all of the winners and my thanks to the judging panels, to all of our partners and supporters who have helped to make the 2018 Saltire Literary Awards such a resounding success.”
Mairi Kidd, Interim Head of Literature, Languages & Publishing at Creative Scotland, said: “Creative Scotland is delighted once again to be able to support the 2018 Saltire Literary Awards.
“These awards occupy a unique place in the Scottish literary landscape, recognising as they do Scottish literature and publishing in all its many and varied forms. Particular congratulations to Dame Sue Black on winning Saltire Book of the Year, to Louise Welsh on her special honour marking the 30th anniversary of the First Book Award and to all of the other individual category winners in what was another very competitive year.
“It is great to be able to celebrate and showcase the work of everyone shortlisted and, in so doing, hopefully to promote it to a new and wider audience.”
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