Today’s the day! The 2021 Edinburgh International Book Festival begins!
Join us in-person at Edinburgh College of Art at the University of Edinburgh or live online for the first day of our first ever hybrid Festival, from our brand new home!
See what’s on today at a glance below, and head to our website to book tickets to watch live in-person or online:
The Society of Authors has revealed the names of the winning writers, poets and illustrators from around the world who will share in the UK’s biggest literary prize fund, worth over £100,000, in an online ceremony.
“Graeme Armstrong: ‘I hope this prize speaks volumes to the young men and women in my community about the distinct possibility of their impossible.”
The acclaimed author of Chocolat Joanne Harris (above) invited an international audience to celebrate the 2021 Society of Authors’ Awards run digitally for the second year because of Covid-19 restrictions.
Speaking from her home in Yorkshire, Harris joined previous award recipients to announce the 2021 winners of ten prizes for debut novels, poetry, historical biography, illustrated children’s books, and lifetime bodies of work. The trade union – which counts such household literary names as Philip Pullman, Hilary Mantel, Kazuo Ishiguro, Neil Gaiman and JK Rowling among its members, as well as 11,500 jobbing writers, translators, illustrators and journalists – shared £105,775 between 35 writers, poets and illustrators in a celebration of the ‘phenomenal depth and breadth of books and words’
The winners included Thomas McMullan, who won the £10,000 Betty Trask Prize for his dark dystopian debut The Last Good Man; poet Paula Claire who this week celebrates 60 years of creating poetry as well as her Cholmondeley Award; Graeme Armstrong, who won both a Betty Trask Award and a Somerset Maugham Award for The Young Team; lawyer turned children’s writer Rashmi Sirdeshpande and illustrator Diane Ewen who won the Queen’s Knickers Award, now in its second year, for Never Show a T-Rex a Book; Waterstones Children’s Book Prize and British Book Awards winner Kiran Millwood Hargrave who won a Betty Trask Award for her debut adult novel The Mercies; and Pulitzer Prize winner Fredrik Logevall who won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography for JFK Volume 1.
Gboyega Odubanjo, Milena Williamson and Cynthia Miller were among the young poets celebrated in the Eric Gregory Awards, while other award recipients included Forward Prize winner Kei Miller, award-winning columnist Lola Okolosie, playwright and education worker Lamorna Ash, and short fiction author and literary reviewer DM O’Connor.
Introducing the Awards, Joanne Harris reflected on the current challenges facing the author community, saying, ‘for authors, whose careers are precarious at the best of times, the challenge to sustain themselves right now is more acute than ever.’
She continued, ‘that is why all of us are here to celebrate the phenomenal depth and breadth of books and words. Authors at the very beginning of their careers. Authors that are well established. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and everything that lies in between. Literature as a treasure at the centre of society. Writing as a force to be reckoned with.’
In his acceptance speech, Kei Miller (above) described his Cholmondeley Award as ‘a wonderful reminder that we belong to so many societies and so many countries’. McKitterick Prize winner Elaine Feeney spoke of the ‘lovely boost’ the prize has given her, confirming ‘signs of life off the West coast of Ireland!’
Queen’s Knickers Award winner Rashmi Sirdeshpande thanked ‘everyone who has helped [Never Show a T-Rex a Book] find its way into the hands of a child’.
And Graeme Johnson whose novel The Young Team mirrors his own experiences of addiction and Scottish gang culture said he hopes his two awards will ‘speak volumes to the young men and women in my community about the distinct possibility of their impossible.’
As she closed the ceremony, Joanne Harris said, ‘There’s no better way to support authors than to read them, so I urge you all to pick up tonight’s winners from your local bookshop and discover their worlds.’
Sponsored by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award is awarded for a short story by a writer who has had at least one short story accepted for publication. Judged by Claire Fuller, Sophie Haydock, Billy Kahora, Ardashir Vakil and Mary Watson. Past winners include Benjamin Myers, Lucy Wood, Grace Ingoldby and Claire Harman. Total prize fund: £1,575.
The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are presented for a first novel by a writer under 35. Judged by Sara Collins, Elanor Dymott and Vaseem Khan. Past winners include Zadie Smith, David Szalay, Hari Kunzru and Sarah Waters. Total prize and award fund: £26,200.
Five winners, each awarded £3,240.
5 winners each awarded £1,680
The Cholmondeley Awards are awarded for a body of work by a poet. Judged by Moniza Alvi, Grace Nichols and Deryn Rees-Jones. Past winners include Seamus Heaney, Carol Ann Duffy, John Agard and Andrew Motion. Total prize fund: £8,400
The Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography is an annual award for historical biography which combines scholarship and narrative drive. Judged by Roy FosterFlora Fraser, Antonia Fraser, Richard Davenport-Hines and Rana Mitter. Past winners include D.W. Hayton, Anne Somerset and Philip Ziegler. Total prize fund: £5,000.
7 winners each awarded £4,050
The Eric Gregory Award is presented for a collection of poems by a poet under 30. Judged by Vahni Capildeo, Andrew McMillan, Sarah Howe, Jamie McKendrick and Roger Robinson. Past winners include Carol Ann Duffy, Helen Mort and Alan Hollinghurst. Total prize fund: £28,350.
The McKitterick Prize is awarded for a first novel by a writer over 40. Judged by Sabrina Mahfouz, Nick Rennison and Christopher Tayler. Past winners include Helen Dunmore, Mark Haddon and Petina Gappah. Total prize fund: £5,250.
Now in its third year, the Paul Torday Memorial Prize is awarded to a first novel by a writer over 60. The prize includes a set of the collected works of British writer Paul Torday, who published his first novel Salmon Fishing in the Yemen at the age of 60. Judged by Paul Bailey, Roopa Farooki and Anne Youngson. Past winners are Anne Youngson and Donald S Murray.
Total prize fund: £1,000.
Now in its second year, this annual prize, founded by Nicholas Allan, author of The Queen’s Knickers, is awarded for an outstanding children’s original illustrated book for ages 0-7. It recognises books that strike a quirky, new note and grab the attention of a child, whether in the form of curiosity, amusement, horror or excitement. Judged by Alexis Deacon, Patrice Lawrence and Tony Ross. The inaugural winner of this award in 2020 was Elena Arevalo Melville for Umbrella. Total prize fund: £6,000.
4 winners each awarded £4,000
The Somerset Maugham Awards are for published works of fiction, non-fiction or poetry by writers under 30, to enable them to enrich their work by gaining experience of foreign countries. Judged by Fred D’Aguiar, Nadifa Mohamed and Roseanne Watt. Past winners include Helen Oyeyemi, Julian Barnes, Zadie Smith and Jonathan Freedland. Total prize fund: £16,000.
5 winners each awarded £1,600
The Travelling Scholarships are awarded to British writers to enable engagement with writers abroad. Judged by Tahmima Anam, Aida Edemariam, Anne McElvoy, Adam O’Riordan and Gary Younge. Previous recipients have included Dylan Thomas, Laurie Lee and Margaret Drabble. Total prize fund: £8,000.
Today, the longlist of the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious crime novel award is unveiled with literary legends and dynamic debuts in contention for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year …
Now in its 16th year, the most coveted prize in crime fiction, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, received a record number of submissions and this highly anticipated longlist of 18 titles – 10 of which by women – represents crime writing at its best: celebrating four former winners, a Booker Prize contender, and the fresh new voices taking the genre by storm.
The line-up of returning champions is led by Scottish supernova Denise Mina, vying to become the first author to complete a hat trick with the deeply unsettling thriller Conviction. Mina is joined by fellow Glaswegian bestseller Chris Brookmyre and his psychological suspense Fallen Angel, ‘Queen of Crime’ Val McDermid’s latest masterful Tony Hill and Carol Jordan investigation, How the Dead Speak, and Lee Child CBE, with the final Jack Reacher, Blue Moon, before sharing authorship with his brother Andrew.
The longlist also features several previously nominated authors hoping to go one step further and claim the trophy with Mick Herron securing a fifth pick for his much-lauded Slough House series with Joe Country and a nod for Abir Mukherjee’s new Wyndham & Banerjee instalment, Smoke and Ashes, and fan favourite Vera and Shetland author Ann Cleeves returns with The Long Call, marking the launch of a new North Devon series.
Further Theakston alumni in the running include Adrian McKinty with his electrifying thriller The Chain, Helen Fitzgerald and the darkly comic Worst Case Scenario, and outback noir from Jane Harper in The Lost Man.
Rising stars of the genre are celebrated with three debuts on the list. Oyinkan Braithwaite, who was spotlighted in the Festival’s highly respected ‘New Blood’ panel in 2019, has been recognised for her Booker longlisted My Sister the Serial Killer.
Edinburgh’s Harriet Tyce (above) is in contention for her electrifying domestic noir Blood Orange that draws on her own experience as a criminal barrister, and Laura Shepherd-Robinson for the deeply atmospheric Blood & Sugar, bringing the 1780s Deptford Docks to life.
Established voices joining the Theakston ranks for the first time include Jane Casey and her latest Maeve Kerrigan instalment Cruel Acts, Alex North with his chilling police procedural The Whisper Man, Louise Doughty, who is longlisted for the eerily unnerving Platform Seven, Will Carver with the mesmerising thriller Nothing Important Happened Today; and Val McDermid’s 2018 New Blood selection: Will Dean and his eagerly awaited follow-up to Dark Pines, the stunning Scandi noir Red Snow.
The full longlist for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2020 is:
– My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite (Atlantic Books)
– Fallen Angel by Chris Brookmyre (Little, Brown Book Group, Abacus)
– Nothing Important Happened Today by Will Carver (Orenda Books)
– Cruel Acts by Jane Casey (HarperCollins, Harper Fiction)
– Blue Moon by Lee Child (Transworld, Bantam)
– The Long Call by Ann Cleeves (Pan Macmillan, Macmillan/Pan)
– Red Snow by Will Dean (Oneworld, Point Blank)
– Platform Seven by Louise Doughty (Faber & Faber)
– Worst Case Scenario by Helen Fitzgerald (Orenda Books)
– The Lost Man by Jane Harper (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)
– Joe Country by Mick Herron (John Murray Press)
– How the Dead Speak by Val McDermid (Little, Brown Book Group, Little, Brown)
– The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Orion Publishing Group, Orion Fiction)
– Conviction by Denise Mina (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)
– Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee (VINTAGE, Harvill Secker)
– The Whisper Man by Alex North (Penguin Random House, Michael Joseph)
– Blood & Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Headline Publishing Group, Wildfire)
– Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce (Pan Macmillan, Mantle/Pan)
Executive director of T&R Theakston, Simon Theakston, said: “Year on year, I’m astounded and delighted by how this exceptional genre continues to excel – we were deluged with record submissions and these 18 impressive titles demonstrate the quality and power of contemporary crime fiction.
“From the familiar faces to the new voices, we are immensely proud of this year’s longlist and raise a virtual glass of Old Peculier to all the authors, and what will be another fierce contest for this much-wanted award.”
The award is run by Harrogate International Festivals in partnership with T&R Theakston Ltd, WHSmith and the Express, and is open to full length crime novels published in paperback from 1 May 2018 to 30 April 2019 by UK and Irish authors.
The longlist was selected by an academy of crime writing authors, agents, editors, reviewers, members of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival Programming Committee, and representatives from T&R Theakston Ltd, the Express, and WHSmith.
The 18 titles will be promoted in a dedicated online campaign from WHSmith, digital promotional materials will be made available for independent bookstores, and the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival’s online community – You’re Booked – will raise a virtual glass to the titles and authors through interviews, features and a variety of further interactive content, as well as giving the opportunity to see a selection of events from the Festival’s extensive archive.
This forms part of the Harrogate International Festival virtual season of events, which presents a raft of live music, specially commissioned performances, literary events and interviews to bring a free festival experience to your own digital doorstep.
The public are now invited to vote for a shortlist of six titles on www.
The winner of this pre-eminent prize has historically been awarded on the opening evening of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival as part of Harrogate International Festival Summer Season, which this year was cancelled, with much sadness, due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
This year, the winner will be revealed at a virtual awards ceremony on 31 July, and will receive £3,000, and a handmade, engraved beer barrel provided by Theakston Old Peculier.
Two months from referendum day, two prominent Scottish writers have set out a personal case for Yes and No – and Allan Massie and William McIlvanney are to discuss their differing perspectives on independence at a special event marking 50 days until referendum day.
Two new pamphlets by leading Scottish writers inspired by the 2014 independence referendum were published yesterday, two months to the day until Scottish voters go to the polls to determine Scotland’s future. The publications are the latest in an ongoing programme of Saltire Series Pamphlets, commissioned by non-political independent charity the Saltire Society.
One pamphlet, entitled ‘Nevertheless’, makes the case for a No vote in the September poll and is the handiwork of prominent journalist and writer Allan Massie. The other pamphlet, ‘Dreaming Scotland’, authored by the novelist and poet William McIlvanney, sets out his own reasons for voting Yes.
The two writers will be in conversation with one another at a special event to be hosted at the Central Hall in Edinburgh at 7.30pm on Wednesday 30 July and chaired by Robyn Marsack of the Scottish Poetry Library, marking exactly 50 days until the historic vote takes place.
Massie has written almost 30 books, including 20 novels and won the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year award for his 1989 novel A Question of Loyalties about Vichy France.
Arguing the case for Scotland to remain part of the United Kingdom, Allan Massie’s Pamphlet concludes:
“It is, for me, a matter of self-confidence. If you feel the lack of that, you will vote for independence. If you feel confident of Scotland’s ability to remain Scottish and prosper in the Union, you will agree that we are indeed Better Together and vote “no”. The Unionist says, I am Scottish. Nevertheless I am also British, and value the Union with England, “our sister and ally”, as [Sir Walter] Scott called her.”
William McIlvanney is also a past winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year award for his 1996 novel The Kiln and has been previously described by none other than Allan Massie as ‘the finest Scottish novelist of our time’.
Setting out his reasons for voting in favour of independence, McIlvanney writes:
“Politically, Scotland’s like a living entity which has been cryogenically frozen and stored within the UK for over 300 years. Isn’t it time to come out of history’s deep-freeze and explore for ourselves who we really are? Whatever that reality turns out to be, let’s confront it. It’s time to grow up and take full responsibility for ourselves. A yes vote would do that.”
Saltire Society Executive Director Jim Tough said:
“Much of the political debate around the referendum has rightly been focused on practical questions and the economic case for and against. We wanted to provide an opportunity for some more philosophical thought to be given to the question. Hence we asked two of Scotland’s contemporary writers, each bringing an alternate perspective, to contribute these thoughtfully argued pieces.
“We wanted personal reflections rather than polemics. I think they dig that bit more deeply into what motivates people to vote one way or the other at a more instinctive level. Both pamphlets also offer some fascinating insights into the way history has shaped the Scotland we live in today – and who we are as modern Scots.”
Tickets for the ‘McIlvanney and Massie in Conversation’ event as well as both limited edition Pamphlets (‘Nevertheless’ by Allan Massie and ‘Dreaming Scotland’ by William McIlvanney) can be purchased from the Saltire Society offices or through the Saltire Society website: www.saltiresociety.org.uk.
Glasgow crime writer Alex Gray received a warm welcome when she visited Muirhouse Library as part of Scottish Book Week events last night. The award-winning author discussed her love of books, how she gets ideas for her stories and read extracts from her latest novel, A Pound of Flesh.
Alex has had a love of books and reading from her earliest years – as a child she was lucky enough to have had an older sister at secondary school, so she grew up with Greek myths and legends, Scheherazade and the Arabian Nights! The author also recalled one particularly prophetic primary school teacher who told Alex – who was then eight years old – she was convinced that she would become a writer when she grew up!
It was actually some years later that the teacher’s prophesy finally came true – Alex turned to writing when illness forced her to quit her job as an English teacher, and decided to write crime novels because she enjoyed reading them! She’s since gone on to write six best-selling novels.
The writer said that she has always been very interested in people and what motivates them, and that the initial inspiration behind her ideas is inquisitiveness and curiosity: wondering ‘what if …?’ Alex remains an enthusiastic member of a local writer’s group and offers advice to aspiring authors when dealing with publishers: ‘Three Ps – politeness, patience and perseverance.’
A Pound of Flesh will be published by Sphere Paperbacks on 6 December
