Scottish Arts Council announces major new sponsorship deal for book awards

The Scottish Arts Council Book Awards, the largest awards of their kind in Scotland, are evolving. After four years in their current format the awards will have a new face when presented at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, ensuring that more books and their writers will be recognised. From summer 2007 a new lead sponsor will be on board, and more and bigger awards will be made.

Evolution of the awards at a glance:

• New major sponsorship deal in place for five years
• New judging process
• Increase in number and size of awards
• Cementing of relationship with the Edinburgh International Book Festival

A significant part of the restructuring process is a major new sponsorship deal that has been secured and is in place for the next five years. The Scottish Arts Council is delighted to announce that an agreement has been reached with Sundial Properties, a private property investment and development business based in Edinburgh. To reflect this, the new name for the awards will be the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Awards. Sundial Properties is recognised as the leading restorer of listed buildings for residential use within Edinburgh. With a track record stretching back more than 30 years, the Company has established a reputation for imaginative and sympathetic developments within a broad range of historically important buildings.

In another break with tradition, judging for the awards moves to categorisation, a move suggested by judges and welcomed by writers.  Books will be judged like-for-like – fiction with fiction, poetry with poetry, first book with first book, and non-fiction with non-fiction. The winners in each of these categories will then go forward to be considered for an overall Book of the Year Prize. A judging panel has been formed, comprising the Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council, a writer and a literature professional. The panel will be in place for a period of three years with a rolling programme of change. This year the judges are: Dr Gavin Wallace, Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council; Elizabeth Laird, author and former prize winner; and Dr Robyn Marsack, Director of the Scottish Poetry Library.

The prize money has also increased. Each of the category winners will receive £5,000, with the winner of the Book of the Year receiving a further £20,000, bringing their total prize award to £25,000. ‘The world’s biggest book festival is the perfect venue for an award celebrating the quality and diversity of Scottish writing’, said Richard Holloway, Chair of the joint board of the Scottish Arts Council and Scottish Screen.

The award ceremony for the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Awards will take place at a central, high profile public event for up to 600 people from across Scotland and beyond at the Edinburgh International Book Festival. A separate reception will follow in the new offices of Sundial Properties on Charlotte Square.

Commenting on the changes, Dr Gavin Wallace, Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council said: ‘Any given format must be refreshed after a period of time and although the existing awards were successful in attracting attention for the writers involved and in celebrating their success, it was recognised that there was room both for improvement and for change. In order to allow the awards to evolve, commercial sponsorship sympathetic to the ethos of the awards programme was sought. ‘The Scottish Arts Council is delighted to have found such a strong and focused partner in Sundial. The awards are growing and improving, as a necessary reflection of the growing stature and profile of Scottish writing.’

William Gray Muir, director of Sundial Properties said: ‘We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to support the awards.  Our business has greatly benefited from the cultural legacy of the Scottish Enlightenment and we very much hope that our contribution to the revitalised Book of the Year Awards will help foster the talent which will continue this tradition. It is a particular pleasure that it coincides with our move to Charlotte Square, with its strong associations with Scotland’s literary heritage.`

The four category winners for the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Awards will be announced mid-June, and the final presentation ceremony will take place at the Edinburgh International Book Festival in mid-August.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES: Jan Rutherford
Publicity & The Printed Word
Tel: 0131 337 9724
Mobile: 07710 474308
Email: jan.ppw@blueyonder.co.uk

Notes to editors

1. The Scottish Arts Council champions and sustains the arts for Scotland, investing over £59 million from Scottish Executive and National Lottery funding to support and develop artistic excellence and creativity throughout Scotland. Further information is available on our website: www.scottisharts.org.uk
2. The awards form an important part of the Scottish Arts Council’s Literature Strategy as a means of raising the prestige of Scotland’s literature nationally and internationally, and celebrating the achievements of writers.
3. Privately owned Sundial Properties, www.sundialproperties.co.uk is a leading developer of high value residential property. The company has a particular focus on buildings of architectural importance in South East Scotland and has long championed the reoccupation of Edinburgh’s Georgian New Town by residential owners. The company is unique in Edinburgh in directly employing more than 50 skilled tradesmen who work primarily on the renovation of listed buildings.
4. The 2007 Edinburgh International Book Festival will take place from 11 to 27 August 2007 in Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh. The programme will be launched on 14 June 2007 and tickets go on sale at 9.30am on 19 June 2007. Telephone 0845 373 5888 or book online at www.edbookfest.co.uk

Contact email(s)

media.office@scottisharts.org.uk

Issued by: Scottish Arts Council