The Ross Roy Medal

The Awards ceremony also included an announcement of the winner of the Saltire Society’s 2014 Ross Roy Medal. Established in 2009, this award commemorates the outstanding contribution to Scottish literature by Professor G Ross Roy of the University of South Carolina. Supporting the next generation of academics, the medal is awarded to the best PhD thesis on a subject relating to Scottish literature. This year’s winner was Barbara Leonardi from Stirling University for her thesis, ‘An Exploration of Gender Stereotypes in the Work of James Hogg’.

Winner of the 2015 Saltire Society Literary Travel Bursary, supported by the British Council was also announced. Lenore Bell, from St Andrews University, intends to use the £1,500 cash prize towards research for a novel set in Edwardian Brooklyn in the USA.

Commenting on winning his Award, Professor Bob Harris said:

“To win this award in a country with such a rich tradition of writing, making and reading books is a huge honour, and also a wonderful way to mark the major contribution made by my co-author, Charles McKean, to understanding Scotland's very distinctive urban and architectural history.”

Executive Director of the Saltire Society Jim Tough said:

“The Saltire Literary Awards have a proud history of celebrating and bringing wider attention to excellence in all literary forms. This year exemplifies that commitment. Scotland’s most prestigious literary awards became wider in scope and greater in impact through generous support from new sponsors Tamdhu Speyside Single Malt Scotch Whisky, Creative Scotland and the Scottish Historical Review Trust.

“The judging panels were deeply impressed by the quality and range of books that made it onto the 2014 shortlist. From poetry and plays to novels and non-fiction, extending the length and breadth of the country and far beyond, this year’s shortlist is a testament to the outstanding calibre of modern Scottish literature in all its varied forms.”