Scottish Book Trust has announced the 13 recipients of the New Writers Award, which is supported by Creative Scotland.
Since 2009 Scottish Book Trust, the national charity transforming lives through reading and writing, has supported over 100 creative individuals through the New Writers Awards.
Eight writers from Edinburgh were selected for a New Writers’ Award, including:
- Eris Young: a queer, transgender writer who uses their work to explore themes of otherness and outsiderhood. They are writer in residence at Lighthouse Books and were named on the 2019 List Hot 100.
- Luca Serra: originally from Northern Italy, he has been living in Scotland for six years. He has so far written two novels and various short stories in Italian, but only started writing in English two years ago.
- Anne Hay, a poet from Perth. She published her first poems at the age of 61. After attending a creative writing group with Valerie Gillies at Maggies Cancer Care Centre in 2018, she found a stronger voice.
- Ioannis Kalkounos: grew up in Greece and is now based in Edinburgh. He has translated various English-language poets into Greek, and his own poetry has appeared in Gutter Magazine.
- Lyndsey Croal: a young adult author has written three novels and was runner up in Shoreline of Infinity and Cymera Fest’s short story competition in 2019. She has co-authored a story that will appear in the anthology Imagine a Country, edited by Val McDermid (published in March). She currently works for WWF Scotland, advocating for climate and nature policy in the Scottish Parliament.
- Patrick James Errington (Callan Gordon Award) is a poet originally from Alberta, Canada, and is now based Edinburgh. Patrick’s poetry has appeared in publications such as Best New Poets, Boston Review, The Iowa Review, The Cincinnati Review, and Best New British and Irish Poets.
- Krishan Coupland is a Children’s and Young Adult author and a graduate of the University of East Anglia MA Creative Writing programme. His short fiction appears in Best British Short Stories, New Writing Scotland, Ambit, Aesthetica, and Litro. He won the Manchester Fiction Prize in 2011, and the Bare Fiction Prize in 2015.
- Marianne MacRae is the poet-in-residence at The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow in 2017, studying the life and work of Joseph Lister and writing poems in response to this research. Her collection was published as a pamphlet, Joseph Lister is My New Flatmate, in a limited print run by the College. Marianne’s work has featured in journals such as Magma, Gutter, Ambit, Acumen, Popshot and The Edinburgh Review.
The New Writers Awards provide a selection of talented writers who have not yet published a full length book or collection with financial support, to enable them to concentrate on developing their work, as well as professional guidance to help them move towards publication.
Former awardees include Helen Sedgwick, whose first crime novel When The Dead Come Calling (Point Blank Books) was released early January, and Kirstin Innes, whose novel Scabby Queen (4th Estate) will be published in April 2020.
Each of the 13 recipients will receive a £2,000 cash award and support tailored to their needs including mentoring from writers and industry professionals, training opportunities, and the platform to showcase their work to publishers and agents. The awards also include the offer of a week-long writing retreat at Moniack Mhor. The retreat provides time, space and the freedom to create new work in idyllic surroundings.
The panel, who received almost 400 submissions, included award-winning author Abir Mukherjee and novelist Ajay Close who judged the fiction and narrative non-fiction category. Poets Michael Pedersen, Raman Mundair, and Sam Tongue, Project Coordinator at the Scottish Poetry Library, judged the poetry submissions. Award-winning authors Martin Stewart and Patrice Lawrence sat on the Children and Young Adult panel.
The Gaelic Books Council provides two additional places on the programme, which support two Gaelic New Writers Awardees each year. The Gaelic Books Council also selects the two Gaelic New Writer Awardees.
Support for an additional place is also generously provided by The Callan Gordon Award, which was set up by his family to celebrate the life of Callan Gordon, a young Scottish writer. The Callan Gordon Award is open to short story writers and poets between the ages of 18 and 35.
Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Congratulations to our thirteen New Writers Awardees, who join the likes of Graeme Macrae Burnet, Helen Sedgwick and Kirsty Logan. The standard of applications continue to be consistently high, demonstrating the wealth of talent in Scotland.
“The New Writers Awards provide one-on-one support for current projects, as well as guidance for the future. All of us at Scottish Book Trust look forward to the fruits of the New Writers’ projects.”
Alan Bett, Literature Officer at Creative Scotland said: “This programme from Scottish Book Trust feeds the literature sector annually with new and exciting voices from Scotland.
“As in previous years, we are sure that these thirteen names will soon feature on book spines and festival programmes. The New Writers Awards go beyond providing writers with mentoring and time to develop their craft, and cover the many practical elements that are essential for a career as a contemporary writer. Many congratulations to all those selected.”
Lyndsey Croal (below) is the Feature Writing Editor for Young Geographer Magazine, and has interviewed climate activist Greta Thunberg amongst others.
New Writers Awardee 2020 Lyndsey said: “Writing has been an outlet for me for as long as I can remember, and I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to work towards turning my passion into a career.
“I’m extremely grateful to Scottish Book Trust for the support, resources and mentoring this award will provide. I can’t wait to get started!”
The New Writers Showcase, a celebration of work by the New Writers Awardees of 2019, will be held on 30 January at Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh.
The event is an opportunity to hear some of the most exciting new talent in Scotland perform their work, as last year’s awardees mark the end of their year. More details and ticket information can be found here.
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