The Aye Write! Bank of Scotland Prize for Scottish Fiction
In association with Aye Write! The Bank of Scotland Book Festival
The 2009 Prize was awarded to James Kelman for his book Kieron Smith, boy. The announcement was made at the Aye Write! Awards on Saturday 14 March and James Kelman's daughter received the prize on his behalf.
The 2009 judging panel was Rob Maslen (University of Glasgow); Rosemary Goring (The Herald); Mary Greenshields (Glasgow Libraries) and Alan Bissett (novelist)
Shortlist
Kieron Smith, Boy - James Kelman
Little Hut of Leaping Fishes - Chiew-Siah Tei
The Fire Gospel - Michel Faber
The Red Book - Meaghan Delahunt
Under Control - Mark McNay
We Are Now Beginning Our Descent - James Meek
The Aye Write! Bank of Scotland Prize for Scottish Fiction was established in memory of Clare Maclean, a great reader and supporter of the festival. It is awarded to the Scottish writer who, in the opinion of the judges, has written the best novel that year. The prize is open to any full-length novel, written in English by someone either born in Scotland or who has worked in Scotland for the 12 months prior to the award ceremony. An annual prize of £5,000 is awarded.
The inaugural prize in 2008 was won by Dan Rhodes for Gold. The shortlist contained the cream of Scottish writers with A L Kennedy, Ali Smith, Iain Banks, Alasdair Gray and John Burnside.
Copies of the shortlisted books are available in Glasgow Libraries
