A NOVEL exploring an unlikely relationship between two actors and a fine art biography have been announced as the winners of Britain's oldest literary awards.
Authors Eimear McBride and Laura Cumming are the 2017 winners of the James Tait Black Prizes, awarded annually by the University of Edinburgh.
The winners of the £10,000 prizes were unveiled by broadcaster Sally Magnusson at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Monday evening.
McBride scooped the fiction prize with her second novel The Lesser Bohemians, which traces a love affair between an 18-year-old drama student and an older actor in mid-90s London.
The writer, who was born in Liverpool but grew up in the west of Ireland, topped a shortlist that included A Country Road, A Tree by Jo Baker; What Belongs To You by Garth Greenwell; and The Sport Of Kings by CE Morgan.
Her debut novel A Girl Is A Half-formed Thing won the 2013 Goldsmiths Prize and the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction 2014.
Fiction judge of the James Tait Black Prize, Dr Alex Lawrie, of the University of Edinburgh, said of her latest novel: "Eimear McBride's astonishing second novel is full of wit, energy and nerve, an extraordinary rendering of a young woman's consciousness as she eagerly embarks on a new life in London."
Cumming's winning book, The Vanishing Man: In Pursuit Of Velazquez, is her first biography.
It focuses on the Spanish court painter Diego Velazquez and a Victorian bookseller who thought he had found a lost painting of the celebrated artist.
Cumming, art critic for The Observer since 1999, fought off competition from a shortlist that featured A Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found In A Skip by Alexander Masters; A Stain In The Blood: The Remarkable Voyage Of Sir Kenelm Digby by Joe Moshenska; and Rasputin by Douglas Smith.
Biography judge Dr Jonathan Wild, of the University of Edinburgh, said of the winning entry: "The Vanishing Man is a real gem of a book which fully deserves its place among the winners of this prize."
The James Tait Black Awards were founded in 1919 by Janet Coats, the widow of publisher James Tait Black, to commemorate her husband's love of good books.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here