Gaelic New Writers Awardees 2024
Posted on 21 February 2024 in Latest News
The names of the New Writers Awardees 2024 have been announced by the Scottish Book Trust. Two of the recipients will be writing in Gaelic, with the support of the Gaelic Books Council.
Every year Scottish Book Trust, the national charity changing lives with reading and writing, holds the prestigious year-long writer development programme to support burgeoning writers living in Scotland. As well as a £2,000 cash award, they will receive mentorship from writers and industry professionals, a week-long retreat, and opportunities to showcase work to publishing industry professionals.
This year’s Gaelic awardees are teachers and writers Kristina Nicolson and Iain Cuimeanach.
Kristina Nicolson (32) is a Gaelic teacher from Glasgow who is writing a series of children’s books based on Gaelic songs. Kristina was brought up surrounded by Gaelic music and culture, which remains an important part of her family life to this day. She lived over in Australia for ten years where she studied English literature and sociology at the University of Adelaide. While it was a fantastic experience living overseas, she missed her Scottish culture and heritage and decided to come home. She is now teaching Gaelic to children in Glasgow and is delighted that both her children are immersed in the language as well.
Kristina says: ‘I’m absolutely delighted to have received a New Writers Award! I am grateful for the support I will receive thanks to this award and looking forward to creating more children’s literature and sharing some Scottish culture and traditional music with children.’
Iain Cuimeanach (Cumming) (48) is a Gaelic teacher in Wester Ross and the history, culture, people and landscape of the area provide a rich source of inspiration for him in his writing. His stories are often centred around moments of crisis. In the last few years, he has won several prizes at the National Mod for short stories and non-fiction articles and in the FilmG competition for script writing. One of his stories was published with an English translation in the magazine Southlight last year. Iain is very much looking forward to the opportunity and challenge that the New Writers Award will provide and writing on a more focussed, consistent basis.
Ian Cuimeanach (Cumming) says: ‘It is a real honour to receive a New Writers Award and I am grateful to Comhairle nan Leabhraichean and The Scottish Book Trust for this opportunity. I am very much looking forward to working with a mentor, to having time dedicated to writing and to seeing how my work evolves over the course of the year and beyond. I have gained so much from Gaelic literature and hope that I will be able to make my own small contribution to it.’
The Gaelic Books Council would like to congratulate Kristina, Iain, and all the awardees. More information about the awardees can be found here: https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/writing-and-authors/new-writers-awards/this-years-new-writers
