James Robertson
Home address:
Sidlaw House, 24 South Street, Newtyle, Angus, PH12 8UQ, ScotlandTelephone:
01828 650615Email:
james@kettillonia.co.ukWebsite:
www.kettillonia.co.ukBRAW network:
yesLL funded:
yesPublisher:
Itchy CooBiography:
I am a poet, novelist, short story writer and editor, writing in English and Scots. I was born in Kent in 1958, but grew up in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire from the age of six. I studied history at Edinburgh University, and worked in various jobs, including bookselling, before becoming a full-time writer. My first book, a collection of short stories, was published in 1991, and since then I have published more than twenty books, for both adults and children. From 1993 to 1995 I was writer-in-residence at Brownsbank Cottage, the former home of the poet Hugh MacDiarmid, near Biggar in Lanarkshire. I am a founder, editor and a contributing author to the Scots language children’s imprint Itchy Coo. I set up the pamphlet-publishing imprint Kettillonia in 1999 but spend most of my time now working on adult fiction and books for bairns in Scots.
About writer's work:
I am interested in history, politics and international affairs, Scottish literature, language and culture, and all these themes appear in my work for adults. Scots language and plenty of humour are important in the books I write or edit for children. My novel Joseph Knight won both the Saltire Book of the Year and Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year awards in 2003/04, and The Testament of Gideon Mack was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and various other awards. It also featured on the Richard & Judy Book Club. I was awarded a Creative Scotland Award in 2006 to work on a novel about Scotland from 1945 to the present.About writer's events and projects:
I am happy to consider most types of events, including readings, talks, lectures, workshops, classroom activities etc, and can work with audiences of all age groups.
Language:
Scots, EnglishAge groups:
0-4, 5-8, 9-12, Teens, AdultsBooks written
Brought to life by award-winning Karen Sutherland's magical illustrations, this colourful counting book will keep young minds busy for hours, counting up the coos and dugs bubblyjocks and the herd of ...
This is an introduction to the history and workings of the institution at the heart of Scotland's government. In an accessible, informative Scots, James Robertson charts the development of the ...
These traditional fairy tales, told in modern easy-to-read Scots and beautifully illustrated by Deborah Campbell, are an ideal way for parents and young children to discover and enjoy together the ...
A Wee Moose in the Hoose is a Scots book of numbers from the award-winning children's imprint, Itchy Coo, that will give endless amusement to bairns and adults alike. Matthew Fitt and James ...
Michael Pendreich is curating an exhibition of photographs by his late, celebrated father Angus for the National Gallery of Photography in Edinburgh. The show will cover fifty years of Scottish life ...
Slip into your baffies and settle down with a book that will take you through a whole day in Blethertoun Braes, a place where the greengrocer bursts into song, the polis has an unusual way of ...
Meet Wee Eck, the friendly bee who buzzes in and out of lots of fun adventures and activities with Skinnymalinky Kirstie and his pure mental scuba-diving Grannie. On his way, Eck introduces primary ...
Katie's Coo is a delightful board book containing some much-loved traditional Scots rhymes along with a few that are less well-known. Parents and grandparents will enjoy singing or chanting the words ...
Katie visits her grandparents' farm and goes in search of the mischievous cat Tam, who keeps one step ahead of her all the way. Katie asks all the animals if they have seen Tam.
Babies and young children will love the simple story of Katie gathering up her animal friends in time for bed. Each page shows Katie looking for the Dug, the Pig, the Bear, the Craw, the Coo and of ...
Katie makes her way through the months of the year, experiencing the changing seasons and some of the key events of the calendar - from wind and snow to rain and sunshine, from spring days with new ...
Illustrated by Karen Sutherland
Katie spends a day at the zoo, meeting some of the bonnie, braw animals and birds that stay there, among them the tiger 'in his strippit coat', the koalas with ...
'Kidnappit' is the Scots version of Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Kidnapped', a dramatic adventure story about a 17 year old, desperate to secure his inheritance, that culminates in a chase from the ...
You are now entering King o the Midden. But be warned. Bob Dewars brilliant cartoon work sets off the stink bombs and whoopee cushions in this wild anthology of hilarious comic verse. And it is pure ...
This is a collection of ghost stories based on a mixture of local history and folklore. The stories are from past and present. Some, such as "The Hauntings of Glamis Castle" or "The ...
It is Spring 1997 and Hugh Hardie needs a ghost for his Tours of Old Edinburgh. Andrew Carlin is the perfect candidate. So, with cape, stick and a plastic rat, Carlin is paid to pretend to be the ...
The Hoose o Haivers retells Ovids Metamorphoses for modern readers in lively accessible Scots. Learn about Daedalus and Icarus who were the world's first high-fliers. Catch up with Phaeton who took ...
Following the bestselling 'The Eejits' ('The Twits') and 'Geordie's Mingin Medicine', here is another Roald Dahl story translated into Scots. Fantastic Mr Fox becomes Sleekit Mr Tod, and he'll ...
The Smoky Smirr o Rain is an innovative collection of some of the finest prose and poetry written in Scots. Chosen from the literature of medieval times to that of the present day, the book is ...
If the devil didn't exist, would man have to invent him? For Gideon Mack, faithless minister, unfaithful husband and troubled soul, the existence of God, let alone the Devil, is no more credible than ...
Yin day, when Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh and Wee Grumphie were aw haein a crack thegither, Christopher Robin said lichtsomely: ‘I saw a Huffalamp the-day, Wee ...
