McIlvanney Prize Winner 2018

We're pleased to announce the Bloody Scotland McIlvanney Prize for Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2018 winner to be Liam McIlvanney's The Quaker!
 

The judges of the McIlvanney Prize this year were Craig Sisterson, Alison Flood, and comedian, Susan Calman who said of the winner:

‘The Quaker was, for me, the stand out book from the longlist. It’s one of those novels that as soon as I finished it, I looked forward to reading it again. Not only did I love the evocative recreation of Glasgow but the characters created were refreshing and surprising.  It was such a pleasure to read.

In 2016 the prize was renamed in memory of Liam's father, William McIIvanney, the much loved Godfather of Tartan Noir.

Our warmest congratulations to Liam.

Finalists are Revealed for the McIlvanney Prize Scottish Crime Book of the Year Award 2018

Winner to be presented at the opening reception of Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival at The Church of the Holy Rude, Stirling on Friday 21 September
 

A panel of judges including comedian and crime fan Susan Calman, writer Craig Sisterson and Guardian books writer, Alison Flood, today reveal the finalists for The McIlvanney Prize from a twelve strong longlist.

The finalists include New Zealand based author, Liam McIlvanney, the son of the man after whom the prize is named; Lin Anderson, a founder of Bloody Scotland and two former winners of the McIlvanney Prize – Chris Brookmyre and Charles Cumming.

The winner of the Scottish Crime Book of the Year will be awarded The McIlvanney Prize in memory of William McIlvanney at the opening reception on Friday 8 September (for which tickets are already sold out) and at 7.15pm will lead a torchlight procession – open to the public – with Val McDermid and Denise Mina on their way down to their event. The award recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones.

The judges explained why each book made the final four:

Lin Anderson, Follow the Dead (Macmillan)
One of Scotland’s long running series raises the bar even higher, a series which is constantly re-inventing itself without being formulaic. The judges praised the novel’s evocative atmospheric setting.

Chris Brookmyre, Places in the Darkness (Little, Brown)
Chris Brookmyre is creating his own genre of cosmic noir in a fully realised world.  A superlative off world thriller about real world issues

Charles Cumming, The Man Between (Harper Collins)
A fresh twist on the spy novel, taking the genre to a different dimension, deftly weaving political events into the story. A superb page turner in the best possible way.

Liam McIlvanney, The Quaker (Harper Collins)
In a crowded market, McIlvanney has created a protagonist who is fresh and distinctive.  He takes the familiar tropes and makes them extraordinary. 

Previous winners are Denise Mina with The Long Drop 2017, Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012. The 2018 winner will be kept under wraps until the ceremony itself.
 

If you would like to talk to any of the finalists or the Director of Bloody Scotland Bob McDevitt please contact fiona@brownleedonald.com 07767 431846.

THE McILVANNEY PRIZE 2018

So with Denise Mina’s The Long Drop winning the award last year, Shots received the final call for entries for 2018, as the panel of judges is announced.

As the finishing touches are put to the 2018 programme Bloody Scotland are putting out a final call for entries to the 2018 McIlvanney Prize, for Scottish Crime Book of the Year - in memory of William McIlvanney.

Eligible books must have been first published in the UK between 1 August 2017 and 31 July 2018 and written by a writer who is born in Scotland or domiciled in Scotland or set in Scotland. Books previously published in other countries will not be eligible. Novels, collections of short stories and non-fiction crime titles are eligible for submission.

Entries (PDFs of the book sent by email to Director, Bob McDevitt bob@bloodyscotland.com with McIlvanney Prize Entry 2018 plus the book title in the header) should be submitted by 5pm on Friday 27 April 2018.

The longlist is expected to comprise up to 12 books which will be announced after the organisers meeting in June 2018 at which point finished copies will be sent to each of the three judges.

This year the judges are confirmed as Susan Calman, comedian and self-confessed crime fiction fan, just back from her success in Strictly Come Dancing who first appeared on the judging panel last year; Alison Flood, the Guardian’s books reporter and former news editor of The Bookseller and Craig Sisterson, a journalist and book reviewer from New Zealand ‘with a particular penchant for a well-told crime tale’ who has been promoted to Chair.

It is particularly apt that a Kiwi is chairing the panel as the winner of last year’s McIlvanney Prize, Denise Mina, has been invited to Christchurch Book Festival and as part of the same initiative New Zealand crime writers are being invited back to Bloody Scotland in 2018, including Fiona Sussman, the winner of the 2017 Ngaio Marsh Prize.

More info www.bloodyscotland.com

Top Photo © 2017 Bloody Scotland

Bottom Photo © 2017 A Karim [L – R : writers Chris, Alex, Craig & Steve]