News
14th Jul 2011
Win! The Scottish Book Awards Shortlist
The Scottish Book Awards (or, to give them their official but somehow nowhere near as catchy full-length title, the Scottish Mortage Investment Trust Book Awards in partnership with Creative Scotland) are in their 39th year, and this year for the first time ever, you get a say in who wins. You’ve got two weeks to enter the public vote, which you can do via the website until Sunday 31st July.
The winner will be announced in August at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where the winning author will be awarded a swoon-inducing £25,000 cash prize, plus the prestigious title of ‘Scottish Book of the Year‘.
And unlike most literary prizes, women writers are well and truly represented at the Scottish Book Awards, with three out of this year’s four shortlisted books written by women authors:
For Books’ Sake favourite Jackie Kay has taken the non-fiction title with her autobiography Red Dust Road, while the contender for the first book category is Sue Peebles, with her début novel The Death of Lomond Friel.
The fiction category contender is Leila Aboulela with her novel Lyrics Alley, while Stewart Conn is the winner of the poetry category with his collection The Breakfast Room. Who will be the ultimate winner? That’s for you (plus a judging panel) to decide.
Can’t wait until the winner is announced to decide which one you should read? To save you any agonising decisions, we’ve got a full set of all four shortlisted books to give away.
Want to get your grubby mitts on ‘em? All you need to do is comment on this post by next Friday 22nd July telling us so, and which one you’d read first if you win.
Want to know more about the shortlisted books and authors before you cast your vote? Then keep checking back, because we’ve got some exclusive interviews with the writers coming our way very soon…
Jane Bradley
difficult decision, as all the shortlist sound great, but I think i’d read Jackie Kay’s autobiography first, as I read Trumpet years ago and loved it very much.
I would love to win! If I win, I will be reading The Breakfast Room first.
I would like to get my grubby mitts on them but promise to wash before i Handle them, the first i would read is The Breakfast Room and thats mainly because once my daughter gets her hands on a poetry book I never see it again.
Great competition, and I love that the public get to vote. I’d read Lyrcis Alley first, it looks really interesting.
Great giveaway and I’d look forward to reading them all. However, I’d read Red Dust Road first as I recently read Kay’s poetry collection Fiere which is a companion piece in a sense. (I also agree with Rosie who commented earlier about Kay’s novel Trumpet – an awesome book!)
I’d be delighted to win & read them all, and would probably start with Red Dust Road first, as I have always enjoyed autobiographies/memoirs, and have been reading alot in this genre recently, with hopes to write my own one day
Very nice to see women writers so present on a shortlist. I’ll probably read Lyrics Alley first if I win. *fingers crossed*
What an ace prize! I’d read Leila Aboulela’s book first if I won.
I read “The Death of Lomond Friel” first. Simply because it sounds darker than the others and I’m in that frame of mind.
I’d go for Lyrics Alley first – now I’ve read the description, I really want to get a hold of it!
Ooh! I would *love* to read all of these books and winning them would be such a boost as I am cash-strapped at the moment so this would cut out the wait at the library for them! I would read Lyrics Alley first, it is about a period of history and a country I know nothing about and I’d love to learn while reading a great book. I am always drawn to Commonwealth literature after studying it at uni.
I would go for ‘Jackie Kay’s Red Dust Road’ I love her poetry and prose, and the cover beckons you to pick it up right away!
What a great prize. Some great writing makes choosing one book to win is such a challenge. I love Stewart Conn’s poems and have ‘Red Dust Road’ on my ‘to read’ list.
I’d want to eat them all up at once, but I think I’d read Stewart Conn’s The Breakfast Room first, because poetry makes me hungriest of all.
I would love to read all these books and I would start with Jackie Kay’s ‘Red Dust Road’. These books are tempting for me because I usually read crime and thrillers for relaxation and all sorts to gain knowledge and understanding of people. What a great prize.
I’d definitely go for Jackie Kay’s book too, been meaning to get to it since I heard her read aloud from it last year.
I think I would read The Death of Lomond Friel first as it sound like the sort of “everyday” observational story I tend to love. I suspect I would also be working through The Breakfast Room at the same time. Nothing quite like mixing poetry with whatever else I’m doing!
An intriguing set of books. I have read much praise for Red Dust Road that I would almost certainly pick it up first.
I would love to win these books. I’m going through a poetry-reading phase just now, so I would read The Breakfast Room first, with a croissant and a cup of coffee.
I would love to win, as I normally stick to fiction and feel I should broaden my horizons a bit. If I were lucky enough to win, I’d probably start with ‘The Breakfast Room’, at least partly because I often do judge a book by its cover, and this book has such a pretty one!
Think I’d go for Sue Peebles’ “The Death of Lomond Friel” first.
Great prize. I would go for Sue Peebles’, The Death of Lomond Friel first, really seem to enjoy “first” books and the subject of this one sounds appealing right now, have to say would be even better if could read all 4 at once, is there an app we can download to do that these days one wonders?!
Would love to get my grubby mitts on the books, my first choice to read would be Sue Peebles – The Death of Lomond Friel as I can relate to the story. They all sound great, I would love to win them!
I don’t know any of those authors, but The Death of Lomond Friel sounds like it’d be right up my street
Having lived in Dundee for 7 years, I know that scottish writers aren’t just immensely talented, they’re also extremely varied. ‘The Breakfast Room’ looks like the best one for me, but as I had a bikini like that little girl is wearing, I’d be happy with all of them.
I’d love to win these books. I think I’d go for Sue Peebles ‘The Death of Lomond Friel’ first. I’m from the East Coast so the setting appeals to me. It’s also good to support debut novelists as it’s hard getting yourself noticed (although Sue seems to be doing well having been nominated for this).
I’d definitely read Leila Aboulela’s book first if I won!
I’d love to win these! I think I would read Lyrics Alley first, It’s a country I’m so interested in but hardely ever read about,so I’d choose this one first.
Would read Red Dust Road first. Lovely prize, I love reading.
Id have to read lyrics alley first, having spotted it in my local bookshop I noticed it not only sounded great but smelled gorgeous! Plus Im going to have a 45min commute for the next 6 weeks so I’m need of train supplies
I’d read the Breakfast room first, sounds a great book – they all do! I read loads and this bundle would be great to take on holiday.
Red Dust Road! I love Jackie Kay’s work.
It would have to be Jackie Kay’s Red Dust Road. As I read through the blurbs and reviews, Red Dust Road is the story that remains with me and if I don’t win, it will be the first one I buy.
Thanks for all the entries, everyone! The competition is now closed and we’ll be emailing the winner in the next half an hour. So stand by those inboxes!