How the Winner is Decided
The judges read all the books submitted and decide on a shortlist of 4 or 5 books per category. They then decide on a shortlist of one book in each category (the categories are Fiction (incl. the short story), Poetry, Literary Non-fiction and First Book). Each of these four shortlisted authors wins £5000. They are then eligible for the Scottish Book of the Year prize, which is where YOU come in. This year’s Scottish Book of the Year will be decided by a public vote combined with the judges’ ratings.
Why a public vote?
Our aim is to encourage people to read, discuss and get involved with the finalists. By including a public vote, we hope that people will feel more empowered to read, and will connect with the authors and want them to succeed.
How does the voting work?
The prize gives equal weight to the public vote and the combined vote of the four judges. When the judges have voted on which shortlisted book they think should win, each book will be assigned the appropriate number 1, 2, 3, or 4 in descending order. For example, the book that the judges think most deserves to win will be assigned 4. Their second favourite will be assigned 3, their third favourite will be assigned 2, and so on.
When the public vote closes, the votes for each book will be tallied. The online votes will be added to postal votes. Each book will be assigned 1, 2, 3, or 4 in descending order based on the number of votes. The book with the largest number of votes will be assigned 4, the book with the next largest number of votes will be assigned 3, and so on.
The winning book will be the one with the largest combined ranking number. For example, if the judges and the public agree, the winning book will receive a ranking of 4 from each, giving a combined total of 8. In the event of a tie, the winning book will be the one with the most votes from the public.
The author of the Scottish Book of the Year will be announced at a special event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2011.
This award carries an additional prize of £25,000 meaning the winning author will win a total of £30,000.
Judges’ Bios
Kirsty Gunn is a writer and lecturer at the University of Dundee. Her published work includes the novels Rain, The Keepsake, Featherstone and The Boy and the Sea which was named Scottish Book of the Year 2007, as well as a collection of short stories, This Place You Return to is Home, and, most recently, 44 Things, a meditation upon domesticity, creativity and motherhood. She is Professor of Writing Practice and Study at the University of Dundee.
Alistair Moffat was born and bred in the Scottish Borders. A former Director of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Director of Programmes at Scottish Television, he now runs the Borders Book Festival and the Lennoxlove Book Festival, as well as a production company based near Selkirk.
Carla Sassi is Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Verona. She specialises in Scottish Literature and Postcolonial studies and has extensively published and lectured in these fields. Among her most recent books are Imagined Scotlands and Why Scottish Literature Matters.
Gavin Wallace (chair of the judging panel) has been active in many aspects of Scottish literature and culture as a teacher, lecturer, critic, journalist, editor, and broadcaster at home and abroad, and was an Associate Lecturer in Literature and the Humanities at the Open University in Scotland from 1991-2001. He has co-edited critical works on Scottish Fiction and Theatre, and was a co-editor of the journal Edinburgh Review. Gavin is Portfolio Manager for Literature, Publishing and Language at Creative Scotland.
