Scottish Book Trust - New Writers Awards 2019
The New Writers Awards provide a selection of talented writers who have not yet published a full length book or collection with financial support, to enable them to concentrate on developing their work, as well as professional guidance to help them move towards publication.
The Edinburgh writers getting an award
Alice Tarbuck is a poet living in Stockbridge. Her first pamphlet, Grid, was published by Sad Press in 2018. Her work has been commissioned by Durham Literary Festival, the Sheffield Post Office Gallery, the University of Edinburgh, Scottish PEN, and Timespan in Helmsdale. She is part of 12, an Edinburgh women’s poetry collective.
Bobby Finn from Polwarth is a radio producer, and his work has included documentaries for BBC World Service on the Russian comedy scene, the origins of surfing in Hawaii and the rise of African Hip Hop. He has written radio scripts for some of the biggest names in comedy including Rich Hall, Miles Jupp and Mel Giedroyc. He was shortlisted for the Scottish Book Trust’s New Writers Award in 2016.
Angela Drinnan has written two novels and won a prize in a Chapter One poetry competition in 2008. Her interest in peoples’ stories led her to train first as a Clinical Psychologist then as a Psychoanalytic Psychotherapist. She works in the NHS and private practice in Edinburgh. Her own life story continues to surprise her – she recently moved back to Edinburgh after almost twenty years in London.
Rachel Rankin is a poet from Coatbridge, currently based in Gorgie, where she works both as a tour-guide and as a tutor in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Edinburgh. She was chosen for the National Centre for Writing’s Emerging Translator Mentorship, where she is currently being mentored by renowned translator Don Bartlett in Norwegian to English literary translation. Rachel has also taken part in the inaugural Emerging Critics Mentoring Programme organised by the Scottish Review of Books. She has received a Dewar Arts Award and was shortlisted for the Jane Martin Poetry Prize.
Ross McCleary, also based in Gorgie, holds a degree in investigative journalism and has had work published in a number of places in print and online including 404 Ink, Litro, and Structo. In March 2018 he spent a month in Finland at Arteles Creative Centre as part of a residency programme. Ross also helps run Inky Fingers, a monthly spoken word open mic night, and does Poetry Shows with Andrew Blair under the name Poetry
AF. Their shows and work have been nominated for a number of Saboteur Awards.