BOOKS


Country Focus: Scotland Category Preview


Category Spotlight Scotland A preview of new titles published between February 2022–February 2023


While many of the headline- grabbing Scottish literature comes from likely sources, under the radar a number of bold, diverse new writers and publishers are deserving of a wider audience


Mairi Oliver & Jim Taylor Lighthouse Bookshop, Edinburgh


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Scotish literary scene that is honest and vibrant, and represents Scotland’s complex imaginations and realities—are we there yet? Books about Scotland, published by Scotish publishers, by Scotland-based or -born writers, are overwhelmingly writen by white, middle-class authors. In 2021 two of Scotland’s major literary awards (the Saltire’s National Book Awards, and Highland Book Prize) had all-white short- lists. But there are encouraging signs. A fresh crop of poets, many of them women and poets of colour, are creating bold, playful work. And taking Scotland’s great tradition of nature writing in new


directions, Roseanne Wat and Amanda Thomson are among a number of writers playing with form to explore connections between identit, belonging and responsi- bilit. Small Scotish presses such as 404 Ink are doing stellar work in moving away from parochialism and embracing the world too, with queer, mixed-race writers at the forefront. There is much to celebrate in a Scotish


literary scene that is reaching for ambi- tious new horizons while still delivering on the tried and true —we are as strong as ever on queens and crime writing! May the success of new voices and bold ventures encourage us to do even beter.


Ever Dundas


HellSans Angry Robot, 11th November, £9.99, PB, 9781915202215


Dundas, founder of accessibility pioneer Inklusion and winner of the Saltire First Book Award for Goblin, brings us a wickedly smart political satire. HellSans explores a world where governmental communications lead to bliss for the majority of the population, but a severe allergic reaction to the minority. A ubiq- uitous typeface is the ultimate control device, marginalising people. Playful and provocative, a unique approach to the perspectives of the haves and have-nots.


Amanda Thomson


be/longing Canongate, August, £14.99, PB, 9781838854720


More than solely a text, this is an experi- ence: an invitation for the reader to ask what home means. Thomson’s hybrid memoir beautifully reflects on the past, and its reach into the present, holding ques- tions of identity and racism with an intense love of place and land- scape — particularly of northern Scotland. The writing is accompanied by artwork and photog- raphy, which together form an intimate story, as wise as it is welcom- ing. (See Nature Writing feature, pp24–25.)


28 18th February 2022


Neil Davidson, James Foley & Ben Wray


Scotland After Britain Verso, 2nd August, £12.99, PB, 9781788735810


One of the late Neil Davidson’s final works, in collabora- tion with two other radical Scottish thinkers, brings a fresh perspective to the independence debate. Eschewing the neoliberal nationalism of the SNP, the authors take an unflinching look at economic, ecological and cultural problems facing an independent Scotland. Both a history of socialist responses to independence and a blueprint for how a progressive Scottish state would operate.


Hannah Lavery


Blood Salt Spring Polygon, out now, £9.99, PB, 9781846976070


The newly appointed Edinburgh Makar’s début collection is here, to our huge excitement. Speaking to the present moment as well as hundreds of years of history, these poems depict isolation felt during the pandemic, but also broader societal and cultural fissures surrounding it, searching back through colonial herit- age to approach our current brokenness. The poems search for truth and integrity amid extremes, with extraordinary lucidity and care.


Jessica Gaitán Johannesson The Nerves and


Their Endings Scribe, 11th August, £9.99, PB, 9781913348656


I devoured this bold, experimental collection of essays. Swedish Colombian Gaitán Johannesson, based in Scotland, weaves her own experiences into journalistic accounts. She speaks to campaigners as well as people in industries fuelling the climate crisis, and reflects on the suffering born of it. Moving, funny and fierce, this offers hope in engaging with climate catastrophe both personally and collectively.


Michael Pedersen


Boy Friends Faber, 7th July, £16.99, HB, 9780571360055


An intimate and original memoir of love, grief and male friendship by one of Scotland’s bright- est young talents, the poet Michael Pedersen. Boy Friends is a unique celebration of the great love affairs that are our friendships. Pedersen will have you laughing out loud and reduced to tears—the book is a tender gift, one we expect will be widely cherished and shared, playing its own part in helping us say unsaid “I love you-s”.


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