Sundial Book of the Year Shortlist 2008
The shortlisted books for the Sundial Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year awards have been drawn up. Spanning three categories, plus a special award for first book of the year, this is the second year of the Sundial SAC Awards.
The winners of each category, plus the overall Book of the Year award, will be announced at a ceremony at the Borders Book Festival on 20th June 2008. The ceremony will be hosted by comedian Rory Bremner.
The shortlisted books in each category are:
Fiction
- The Devil's Footprints by John Burnside (Jonathan Cape)
- Old Men in Love by Alasdair Gray (Bloomsbury)
- Day by AL Kennedy (Jonathan Cape)
- Girl Meets Boy by Ali Smith (Canongate)
Non-Fiction
- Scotland's Books: The Penguin History of Scottish Literature by Robert Crawford (Penguin)
- The Wild Places by Robert Macfarlane (Granta)
- Hamish Henderson: The Making of the Poet by Timothy Neat (Polygon)
- A History of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr (Macmillan)
- Auld Campaigner: A Life of Alexander Scott by David Robb (Dunedin Academic Press)
Poetry
- Gift Songs by John Burnside (Jonathan Cape)
- Window for a Small Blue Child by Gerrie Fellows (Carcanet Press)
- A Book of Lives by Edwin Morgan (Carcanet Press)
- Greenfields by Richard Price (Carcanet Press)
- Bodywork by Dilys Rose (Luath Press)
First Book Award
- Morocco Rococo by Jane McKie (Cinnamon Press)
- Shadow Behind the Sun by Remzije Sherifi (Sandstone Press)
- The Brainstorm by Jenny Turner (Jonathan Cape)
- Auld Campaigner: A Life Of Alexander Scott
This is a biography of Alexander Scott, a hugely influential figure in the Scottish literary scene in the 20th century. It will appeal to students of the Scottish renaissance and lovers of 20th century Scots literature. - Bodywork
An alluring collection of poetry and prose, this title focuses on the human body, exploring its weaknesses and strengths and its mortality and physiology. - A Book Of Lives
Edwin Morgan, Scotland's poet laureate, ia an internationally renowned and widely anthologised writer. This is his first new collection of poems in over four years. - The Brainstorm
Lorna comes to work one morning in an office high up in a tower block in Canary Wharf. A colleague brings her a sandwich and a coffee. This is her job, it seems, and it's thrilling. The problem is that Lorna has had a brainstorm. She can't remember what she does, where she lives, or the name of the colleague with the coffee. - Day
Alfred Day wanted his war. In its turmoil he found his proper purpose as the tail-gunner in a Lancaster bomber; he found the wild, dark fellowship of his crew, and - most extraordinary of all - he found Joyce, a woman to love. But that's all gone now - the war took it away. Maybe it took him, too. - The Devil's Footprints: A Romance
Once, on a winter's night many years ago, after a heavy snow, the devil passed through the Scottish fishing town of Coldhaven, leaving a trail of dark hoofprints across the streets and roofs of the sleeping town. Michael Gardiner has lived in Coldhaven all his life, but still feels like an outsider, a blow-in. But that is about to change. - Gift Songs
In his tenth collection of poems, John Burnside begins with an interrogation of the gift song and moves on through explorations of time and place, towards a tentative and idiosyncratic re-ligere, the beginnings of a renewal of the connection to, and faith in, an ordered world. - Girl Meets Boy
'Girl Meets Boy' is a novel from the pen of Ali Smith, author of 'Free Love', 'Like', and 'The Accidental'. - Greenfields
'Greenfields' is Richard Price's second book of poems, in which he writes for the first time about growing up in a fast-changing corner of Scotland. - Hamish Henderson: A Biography
This is a biography of Hamish Henderson, well-known songwriter, poet, and pioneer in the field of Scottish folksong. It assesses his place in the twentieth century based on interviews with those who knew Henderson both personally and professionally. - A History Of Modern Britain
'A History of Modern Britain' confronts head-on the victory of shopping over politics. It tells the story of how the great political visions came to be defeated by consumerism, celebrity and self-gratification - and, every time, the British people turn out to be stroppier and harder to herd than before. - Old Men In Love: John Tunnock's Posthumous Papers
'Old Men in Love' constitutes the posthumous papers of a recondite - yet venal - retired Glaswegian schoolmaster, named John Tunnock. - Scotland's Books: The Penguin History Of Scottish Literature
Stretching from the earliest written monuments during the Roman Empire to the thriving world of modern Scottish imaginative writing, this title is packed with research on some of the best works of a literature that extends far beyond the borders in which it was written. - Shadow Behind The Sun
In 'Shadow Behind The Sun', Remzije Sherifi tells her own story, and that of her family, in the context of a deteriorating political environment that led over a number of years to the attempted ethnic cleansing of Kosova. - Window For A Small Blue Child
A poignant collection, 'Window for a Small Blue Child' tells the story of one forty-something woman's experiences of infertility and IVF. Gerrie Fellows reveals the reality of the contemporary IVF fairy tale: its scans and procedures, labs and Petri dishes, which may or may not cradle a future child.