Writers' residency at the Scottish Parliament

The Scottish Book Trust recently organised the first ever Writer's residency at the Scottish Parliament, featuring James Robertson.

The complex and, at times, uneasy relationship between Scottish politics and literature was one of several issues explored during the course of the residency at the new Scottish Parliament during the week of 15 November 2004.

Celebrated Scottish author James Robertson, winner of both the Saltire Society Book of the Year Award 2003 and the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award 2004, for his novel Joseph Knight, spent a week ensconced in the recently opened parliament building at Holyrood.  Here he examined the links between the Parliament and politicians and Scotland's literature and writers.

During his residency, Robertson delivered three masterclasses designed to introduce MSP's, researchers and other Parliament staff to aspects of Scottish literature that have built a frame of reference for the new building at Holyrood and contemporary Scottish politics as a whole.

In A Parcel of Rogues, Robertson examined the historic relationship between Scottish writers and politicians. The Gable-Ends o' Time sees the new Parliament within the context of the Royal Mile, historically the hub of much more of the country's cultural, political, legal, religious and civic life. Finally, in Scotland's an Attitude of Mind, the author explores the elusive political and cultural identity represented by the Parliament which poets, playwrights and novelists have tried to capture over the centuries.

As befits a resident writer, Robertson has been commissioned by the Scottish Book Trust to produce a new piece of writing based upon his experiences in the Parliament. The Scottish Book Trust also took the opportunity to conduct a poll of MSP's to discover their favourite Scottish book.

Robertson said: 'This initiative is a huge opportunity for us to grab the attention of Scotland's politicians and encourage them to embrace books, reading and Scottish literature as significant constituents of Scottish political and cultural life. Scotland's literary heritage is an important side of the national character, insofar as such a thing exists. I'm very much looking forward to getting into the bones of the Parliament and writing about my experience thereafter. As yet, I've no idea what form this will take or what the context will be, but I'm terribly interested to find out.'

Marc Lambert, Chief Executive of the Scottish Book Trust, added: 'This residency is a great way to underline the centrality of literature to the nation, to mark the opening of the Scottish Parliament, and to signal the strength of Scottish writing today. Writers have always played a key role in helping to articulate and shape Scotland's sense of itself as a nation, and the relationship between writers and government is rich, complex and fascinating. Throughout the centuries, writers have constantly dealt with themes close to our heart, such as the relationship between history and identity, between power and the pen, and between language and culture. With this residency, we hope to provide an opportunity for MSP's to engage with this literary history and its themes, with the emphasis firmly on making it a pleasurable and interesting experience.

Anyone who knows James Robertson's work will know why he is the perfect writer for this wonderful occasion.

We have also commissioned a new piece of work to be written by James, arising from this residency, and we will be making this widely available to the public, along with the texts of his masterclasses, early in the new year.'