Saltire Society Literary Awards


The Saltire Society Literary Awards are made annually by the Saltire Society. The awards seek to recognise books which are either by "living authors of Scottish descent or residing in Scotland," or which deal with "the work or life of a Scot or with a Scottish question, event or situation." The awards have been described as "the premiere prize for writing by Scots or about Scotland."
The first Saltire Society Book Award was given in 1937, the year after the Saltire Society was established. No awards were given after 1939 due to the Second World War, and the next award was made 1956. The History Book of the Year award was inaugurated in 1965. In 1982 sponsorship was obtained and since then the awards have been made annually. First books have been recognised since 1988, and in 1998 the award for Scottish Research Book of the Year was established. The Saltire Society currently presents awards in the four following categories:
In 2019, a Lifetime Achievement Award was introduced, the inaugural prize going to Alasdair Gray.
In addition, an annual student travel bursary is awarded to a creative writing graduate, and the Ross Roy Medal is awarded for the best PhD thesis on a subject related to Scottish literature. A one-off Homecoming Book of the Year award was made in 2009 to celebrate the "Year of homecoming": the award was presented to American professor Donald Worster for his biography of John Muir, A Passion for Nature.

Past winners

Scottish Book of the Year

The Scottish Book of the Year award was established in 1937, and has been given annually since 1982. The award is open to novels, poetry and plays as well as non-fiction works on Scottish subjects.
YearWorkAuthorRef
1937Highland RiverNeil Gunn
1937The Lord BothwellRobert Gore-Browne
1939Three PlaysRobert McLellan
1956One Foot in EdenEdwin Muir
1958Scotland Before HistoryStuart Piggott
1982Alasdair Gray
1983Collected PoemsDerick Thomson
1983Poems of Thirty YearsEdwin Morgan
1984God and the Poets: The Gifford LecturesDavid Daiches
1984Intimate Voices: Selected WorksTom Leonard
1985Collected PoemsNorman MacCaig
1986A Storm From ParadiseStuart Hood
1987The Stories of Muriel SparkMuriel Spark
1988Games with ShadowsNeal Ascherson
1988The Enchanted Glass: Britain and its MonarchyTom Nairn
1989A Question of LoyaltiesAllan Massie
1990O Choille gu Bearradh / From Wood to RidgeSorley MacLean
1991Scottish Art 1460–1990Duncan Macmillan
1992Collected PoemsIain Crichton Smith
1993Robert Burns – A BiographyJames A. Mackay
1994Beside the Ocean of TimeGeorge Mackay Brown
1995Black SeaNeal Ascherson
1996The KilnWilliam McIlvanney
1997Grace NotesBernard MacLaverty
1998The SopranosAlan Warner
1999PursuitsGeorge Bruce
2000The Lantern BearersRonald Frame
2001MedeaLiz Lochhead
2002ClaraJanice Galloway
2003Joseph KnightJames Robertson
2004In Another LightAndrew Greig
2005Case HistoriesKate Atkinson
2006A Lie About My FatherJohn Burnside
2007DayA. L. Kennedy
2008Kieron Smith, boyJames Kelman
2009The Bard: Robert Burns, a BiographyRobert Crawford
2010And the Land Lay StillJames Robertson
2011A Life in PicturesAlasdair Gray
2012Mo Said She Was QuirkyJames Kelman
2013Something Like HappyJohn Burnside
2014The Scottish Town in the Age of Enlightenment 1740-1820Bob Harris and Charles McKean
2015The Book of Strange New ThingsMichel Faber

Scottish First Book of the Year

The first book of the year award was inaugurated in 1988 and recognises an author who has not previously published a book. As with the book of the year, the award is open to novels, plays, poems and non-fiction.
YearWorkAuthorRef
1988The Richt NoiseRaymond Vettese
1989Cells of KnowledgeSian Hayton
1990The Ballad of Sawney BainHarry Tait
1991Night Geometry and the Garscadden TrainsA. L. Kennedy
1992Adoption PapersJackie Kay
1992Uirsgeul/MythChristopher Whyte
1995Free Love and Other StoriesAli Smith
1996SlatternKate Clanchy
1997A Painted FieldRobin Robertson
1998The Pied Piper's PoisonChristopher Wallace
1998Two Clocks TickingDennis O'Donnell
1999Some Rain Must FallMichel Faber
2000The Rising SunDouglas Galbraith
2001In the Blue HouseMeaghan Delahunt
2002Burns the RadicalLiam McIlvanney
2002The Cutting RoomLouise Welsh
2003Ath – AithneMartainn Mac an t-Saoir
2004StargazingPeter Hill
2005Amande's BedJohn Aberdein
2006George Mackay Brown: The LifeMaggie Fergusson
2007Fresh – A novelMark McNay
2008The Good MayorAndrew Nicoll
2009The Tin-KinEleanor Thom
2010The History of Orkney LiteratureSimon W. Hall
2010The Death of Lomond FrielSue Peebles
2011The Echo ChamberLuke Williams
2012The Last HighlanderSarah Fraser
2013Air Cuan Dubh DrilseachTim Armstrong
2013As Far As I Can SeeEunice Buchanan
2014MoontideNiall Campbell
2015On the Edges of VisionHelen McClory

Scottish History Book of the Year

The award for History Book of the Year was established in 1965 in honour of the historian Agnes Mure Mackenzie.
YearWorkAuthorRef
1982Thomas Chalmers and the Godly CommonwealthStewart J. Brown
1983---
1984---
1985---
1986A Century of the Scottish People 1830–1950T. C. Smout
1987---
1988---
1989---
1990---
1991---
1992---
1993---
1994James IMichael Brown
1995The Great Highland FamineTom Devine
1996---
1997The Early Stewart Kings: Robert II and Robert III 1371–1406Stephen Boardman
1998The Identity of the Scottish NationWilliam Ferguson
1999Patrick Sellar and the Highland Clearances: Homicide, Eviction and the Price of ProgressEric Richards
2000The Rough Wooings: Mary Queen Of Scots 1542–1551Marcus Merriman
2001The Late Medieval Scottish Parliament: Politics and the Three Estates 1424–1488Roland Tanner
2002The Culture of Protestantism in Early Modern ScotlandMargo Todd
2004Adventurers and Exiles: The Great Scottish ExodusMarjory Harper
2005David IIMichael Penman
2006Native Lordships in Medieval Scotland: The Earldoms of Strathearn and Lennox c.1140–1365Cynthia J. Neville
2006Scotland's Historic HeraldryBruce A. McAndrew
2007The Scots and the UnionChristopher Whatley
2008From Pictland to Alba 789–1070Alex Woolf
2009A History of Scottish PhilosophyAlexander Broadie
2010Whaur Extremes Meet: Scotland's Twentieth CenturyCatriona M. M. MacDonald
2011The Inner Life of Empires: An Eighteenth Century HistoryEmma Rothschild
2012A Military History of ScotlandE. Spiers, J. Crang and M. Strickland
2013An Enlightened Duke: The Life of Archibald Campbell, Earl of Ilay, 3rd Duke of ArgyllRoger L. Emerson
2014Scottish Gods, Religion in the Modern Scotland 1900–2012Steve Bruce
2015A Chasm in Time – Scottish War Art And Artists in the Twentieth CenturyPatricia R. Andrew

Scottish Research Book of the Year

This award was initiated in 1998, and is made jointly by the Saltire Society and the National Library of Scotland. It aims to recognise books which "represent a significant body of research and offer new insight or dimension to the subject".
YearWorkAuthorRef
1998The Edinburgh History of the Scots LanguageCharles Jones
1999The Poems of William Dunbar Priscilla Bawcutt
2000Jessie Kesson: Writing her LifeIsobel Murray
2000The Highland Pipe and Scottish SocietyWilliam Donaldson
2001The Scottish Book Trade 1500−1720Alastair J. Mann
2002Sorley Maclean, Poems to EimhirChristopher Whyte
2002Public Sculpture of GlasgowRay McKenzie
2003The Greig-Duncan Folk Song CollectionEmily B. Lyle and Katherine Campbell
2004The Last of England?Randall Stevenson
2004Maritime Enterprise and Empire: Sir William MacKinnon and his Business Network 1823–1893J. Forbes Munro
2005Weights and Measures in ScotlandR. D. Connor and A. D. C. Simpson, edited by Alison Morrison-Low
2006Dùthchas Nan Gàidheal: Selected Essays of John MacInnesMichael Newton
2007Scotland's Books: The Penguin History of Scottish LiteratureRobert Crawford
2008Scott's Shadow: The Novel in Romantic EdinburghIan Duncan
2009Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English DictionaryChristian Kay, Jane Roberts, Michael Samuels and Irené Wotherspoon
2010Robert Burns & Pastoral: Poetry and Improvement in Late Eighteenth-Century ScotlandNigel Leask
2010Adam Smith: an Enlightened LifeNicholas Phillipson
2011Beyond the Last DragonJames McGonigal
2012Scotland: Mapping the NationC. Fleet, C. Withers and M. Wilkes
2013The Sunlit Summit: The Life of W. H. MurrayRobin Lloyd-Jones
2015Clubbing Together: Ethnicity, Civility and Formal Sociability in the Scottish Diaspora to 1930Tanja Bueltmann