This is the first year the Saltire Society has instituted a ‘shadow judging panel’ scheme for four of their literary award categories: Fiction, First Book, Non Fiction and Poetry.
The purpose of the shadow judging panels was to offer young publishers, students and booksellers the opportunity to read the shortlists for these four categories and come together to discuss and judge the books. Through a fantastic partnership with the Society for Young Publishers, Scotland, this scheme has been hugely successful, with all of the participants commenting about how exciting this unique opportunity to engage with Scottish literature in this way was.
The Saltire Society has been delighted that so many young publishers, booksellers and future publishers have had the opportunity to experience what it feels like to be in the judges chair.