Older News stories
NEW WRITERS IN THE NEWS
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Congratulations to Kirsty Logan and Roy Gill, both New Writers Award winners in 2009/10. Kirsty's story 'The Rental Heart' features in The Best British Short Stories 2011, alongside stories by Hilary Mantel, John Burnside and many more.
Meanwhile, Roy has been shortlisted for this year's Kelpies Prize for his previously unpublished novelThe Resurrection Spell.
Well done to both!
JULIA DONALDSON IS THE NEW CHILDREN'S LAUREATE
Julia Donaldson, bestselling author ofThe Gruffalo and winner of the 2010 Royal Mail Award (Bookbug Readers category) for What The Ladybird Heard, has been announced as the Children's Laureate for 2011-13. Congratulations to Julia, we think she's a great choice!
Read more on the Children's Laureate website
Watch our Julia Donaldson videos:
Authors Live with Julia Donaldson
CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE: EXCELLENCE GROUPS
The new reports on Excellence in different subject areas have been published - find out more about our involvement and perspectives here
WORLD BOOK NIGHT: OUR REVIEWS
We offer our thoughts on the 25 books selected for this year's first ever World Book Night event. We'd love to hear your thoughts too!
Read our World Book Night reviews
SHORT STORY COMPETITION WINNER AND RUNNERS-UP
To celebrate award-winning author Jacqueline Wilson's participation in our live Meet Our Authors broadcast on 27th January 2011, we offered one lucky reader the chance to meet Jacqueline Wilson, be part of the live audience at the BBC studios, have their very own short story published in the Sunday Herald, and win £100 worth of contemporary children’s books for their school.
We are delighted to announce that the winning entry came from Rebecca Richard with her short story The Roots of Friendship.
You can read Rebecca's story now, along with the runner-up entries, here.
FAMILY LEGENDS SURVEY
The majority of Scottish people would like to know more about their family history than they currently do, but just don’t have the time to look into it, according to a new survey.
The research, carried out as part of the Family Legends project, showed that 90% of those surveyed would love to know more about their ancestors. The majority of these were hampered by a lack of time and the remainder by a lack of understanding about where to start.
FAMILY LEGENDS SURVEY
The majority of Scottish people would like to know more about their family history than they currently do, but just don’t have the time to look into it, according to a new survey.
The research, carried out as part of the Family Legends project, showed that 90% of those surveyed would love to know more about their ancestors. The majority of these were hampered by a lack of time and the remainder by a lack of understanding about where to start.
NEW WRITERS AWARDS 2010/11
The 8 recipients of this year's New Writers Awards have been announced, and you can read full profiles and samples of their work here.
FAMILY LEGENDS SURVEYThe majority of Scottish people would like to know more about their family history than they currently do, but just don’t have the time to look into it, according to a new survey.The research, carried out as part of the Family Legends project, showed that 90% of those surveyed would love to know more about their ancestors. The majority of these were hampered by a lack of time and the remainder by a lack of understanding about where to start.
SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST WIN 2 ARTS AND BUSINESS AWARDS
On September 22 2010 at a ceremony at the RSAMD in Glasgow, Scottish Book Trust were awarded two Arts and Business Awards in recognition of their fruitful partnerships with business partners.
Their partnership with Scottish Friendly Assurance on the innovative Meet Our Authorsproject, which brings inspirational authors into Scottish classrooms, won the Young People Award.
The Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children’s Books – which allows youngsters to vote for their favourite Scottish books of the year, was honoured with the Sustained Partnership Award.
The Meet Our Authors project, which exploits cutting-edge technology and social media channels to bring the best children’s authors to children, young people and their parents’ right across the UK is one of the first literacy projects of its kind in the UK. Children’s author events are broadcast live over the internet plus quality videos, audio books and competitions are available on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The 3 world-class children’s authors broadcast so far have reached a total audience of 240,000 childrenacross Scotland and the UK.
Popular with youngsters and teachers alike, the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children’s Books is Scotland’s definitive children’s book prize, with books chosen and voted for by children themselves. The awards mobilise enthusiasm for reading in schools across Scotland and include paired reading activities between secondary and primary pupils. The awards have been sponsored by Royal Mail for 5 years running.
Jasmine Fassl, Children’s Programme Manager (Maternity Cover) at Scottish Book Trust
“We are immensely proud that Meet Our Authors and Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children’s Books have been honoured in this way. The support of our partners is hugely valuable in enabling us to inspire tens of thousands of children across Scotland with a love of books and reading.”
Calum Bennie, Marketing Manager at Scottish Friendly Assurance
"Introducing young people to reading, and the world of books in general, through our partnership with Scottish Book Trust has been one of the most worthwhile things we have done and we are really proud that this has attracted the recognition of Arts & Business Scotland."
Julie Morrison, Head of External Relations for Royal Mail Group,said:
“Royal Mail is delighted to be sponsoring the Children’s Book Awards. We are particularly pleased with the enthusiastic response of children, parents and teachers across Scotland to these awards. It is phenomenal that the number of children taking part continues to grow every year. The quality of the books on the shortlists is also remarkable."
THE BOOK THAT CHANGED MY LIFE - AVAILABLE NOW
The Book That Changed My Life is a collection of short stories about life-changing books, featuring entries by A L Kennedy, Alexander McCall-Smith, Brian Cox and Janice Galloway as well as the general public. A definite must-have for book lovers, it is available from Waterstone’sand Amazon now.
SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST - THE POEM!
Paraig MacNeil is a storyteller on our database who decided to demonstrate how much he loves us and all the work we do by penning a poem of appreciation, and here it is. Thanks Paraig, we love you too!
So while ye vanguards o’ the quill,
Command wi’ bard-like soul-felt will
Or oral skill, yer heart’s expression,
Tae pore out wit and artfou’ blessing,
Through marked discretion, our support
In grant and session, town and coast
Shall proudly host, through siller portions,
Hard found support, where firm promotion
By skilled devotion, cause will pages,
Or witty poem for all ages,
Or aural play, that’s gained commission,
Kick wordy waves through air transmission
Tae make our mission great when you
Relate its vision, where in school
Unveiled in truth sae braw ye’ll bind
Such brain, where book and tall tale ties
Tae Scotland’s pride.
JURA ARTISTS BOOK FROM DAVID FAITHFULL AND JOHN BURNSIDE
The poet John Burnside and artist David Faithfull collaborated on this Artists Book that was launched on 8th December at Scottish Book Trust. A collector's item, with only 250 copies produced, the unique design and style can be seen in the images below.
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NEW WORK FROM OUR VIRTUAL WRITER IN RESIDENCE
As well as producing excellent monthly Creative Writing podcasts for us, Cathy Forde, our current Virtual Writer in Residence, has been busy working on her first play. Empty is being produced and performed by the National Theatre of Scotland in early 2010. Click here for more information
Watch Cathy's latest Creative Writing Podcast video
WE WON AN ARTS & BUSINESS SCOTLAND AWARD!
We were delighted to be named winners of the 2009 Arts & Business Scotland Young People Award for our work with Royal Mail Scotland on the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books. Our Children's Programme Manager Anna Gibbons (2nd from left) was presented the award at the ceremony by Michael Russell MSP (far right).
More on the Arts & Business Scotland Awards
SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST SHORTLISTED FOR £3m ARTS FUNDING PRIZE
Scottish Book Trust has been selected to progress to Stage 2 of the £3M Arts Funding Prize for Edinburgh alongside Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop and Edinburgh College of Art.
The three short-listed projects fought off competition from 10 other Edinburgh based arts organisations to be in the running for the £3M prize. The prize – administered by the Scottish Community Foundation on behalf of an anonymous donor - is to create an arts facility of cultural and architectural merit in the Capital, in either a new or refurbished building.
The Scottish Book Trust’s proposal is to significantly improve the Trust’s premises at Sandeman House, off the Royal Mile. With a more useful space, the Trust hopes to work collaboratively with neighbours and colleagues in the literature sector, such as the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust, the Scottish Storytelling Centre and the Scottish Poetry Library, to create Scotland’s Literary Quarter.
Marc Lambert, chief executive of the Scottish Book Trust, said: "This is a really important step for us. Whether we win or lose, we’re delighted our proposal stood up to the competition. To progress to the next stage of the competition is not only exciting for the Scottish Book Trust, but for all those who have a stake in literature in Scotland – readers, writers, publishers and our colleagues in the literature sector".
To see details of the building plans, check the Edinburgh World Heritage website at www.ewht.org.uk/New-Plan-to-.aspx
SCOTTISH BOOK TRUST NOMINATED FOR TWO ARTS & BUSINESS AWARDS
Two Scottish Book Trust projects have been nominated for the 2009 Arts & Business Scotland Awards, the winners of which will be announced on October 1st.
The Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children’s Books has been shortlisted for the A&B Scotland Young People Award, which recognises a partnership that successfully "harnesses the power of the arts to engage young children".
The Royal Mail Awards, run by Royal Mail, Scottish Book Trust and the Scottish Arts Council, get children and young people really excited about reading and writing. The awards are decided by nearly 20,000 young people across Scotland reading and voting for their favourite children’s books of the year.
More about the Royal Mail Awards
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour has been shortlisted for the A&B Scotland Sustainability Award, awarded to an established on-going partnership that sets standards in creative arts-business collaborations.
The Scottish Friendly Children’s Book Tour brings the best UK and international children’s authors and illustrators to schools, libraries and communities across Scotland providing children with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see, hear and be inspired by a first-class writer.
More about the Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour
PODCAST: MG HARRIS
A new interview with the bestselling author of the Joshua Files series, recorded after our recent Virtual Author event in Lenzie.
Listen to the MG Harris interview
EXCLUSIVE ARTLINK STORIES
Three stories dealing with the challenges of living with disability, written by Anne Donovan, Laura Marney and Nicola White, and available to read and listen to exclusively on our site!
Go to the Artlink Stories section
SUCCESS AT YOUNG SCOTLAND PROGRAMME
Scottish Book Trust's Website Editor Paul Gallagher was named Scotland Young Thinker of the Year 2009 at the Summer course of the 2009 Young Scotland Programme, held in Stranraer on 2-6 June. The Young Programme exists to stretch the minds and broaden the horizons of people in the early stages of their working lives or performing voluntary work in the community, through a series of events throughout the year in the UK and Ireland.
Find out more about the Young Programme here
PODCAST: CATHERINE RAYNER
Catherine was at Scottish Book Trust to celebrate the launch of Sylvia & Bird back in March and we invite you to come and listen to what she had to say about her inspiration, illustration heroes and what type of vegetable she would be!
Listen to the Catherine Rayner interview
ROYAL MAIL AWARDS 2009 SHORTLIST: AUTHOR INTERVIEWS
Listen to interviews with all nine of the shortlisted authors:
PODCAST: STEVE COLE
Steve Cole was our special guest on the recent Scottish Friendly Children's Book Tour of Orkney and Shetland, and he certainly put all his energy into creating the best experience possible for all the children who saw him. Chris interviewed Steve at the end of the tour, and asked him about the masses of books he has written, including the Astrosaurs and Cows in Action series', as well as his involvement in a certain little-known BBC science fiction series...
Listen to the Steve Cole interview
SPIRIT OF JURA BOOK LAUNCH: PHOTO GALLERY
We launched the Spirit of Jura anthology on April 16th, with the help of writers Will Self, Liz Lochhead and John Burnside.
BOOKS MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN WEST AFRICA
Scottish Book Trust recently donated 20 children's books to a newly built library in Mission Tové, Togo, and we've received some great pictures of the books in use.
