At a 1:00 pm ceremony at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh, it was announced that Dr Isobel Murray, a Reader in the Department of English at the University of Aberdeen, has won the National Library of Scotland/Saltire Research Book of the Year for her work Jessie Kesson: Writing her Life.
Other nominees for the Research Book Award, supported by the National Library of Scotland, were Bho Chluaidh gu Calasraid (from the Clyde to Callander) by Michael Newton (Acair); The Highland Pipe & Scottish Society 1750 -1950 by William Donaldson (Tuckwell Press), and Screening Scotland by Duncan Petrie (British Film Institute).
Jessie Kesson: Writing Her Life is published by Canongate
Dr Murray said: “I am enormously thrilled to receive this prize, but I feel that it more belongs to Jessie Kesson herself than to me, because I have had the advantage of using so many of her words in my book.”
Founded in 1936, the Saltire Society is a non-political body concerned with all aspects of Scottish life and culture. Through its Awards competitions, it promotes excellence in the arts, civil engineering, education, housing design, music, literature, planning & environment, and the sciences. Established in 1998, the award is made jointly with the National Library of Scotland. Books being entered should represent a significant body of research; offer new insight or dimension to the subject; add knowledge and understanding of Scotland and the Scots.
