SCOTTISH Book Trust has announced the 10 recipients of this year’s New Writers Awards, providing a selection of talented writers who have not yet published a full-length book or collection with professional guidance and financial support.

Each of the 10 recipients will receive a £2000 cash award and

support tailored to their needs – including mentoring from writers and industry professionals, training opportunities, and the platform to showcase their work to publishers and agents.

Funded by Creative Scotland and run by Scottish Book Trust, the awards have supported more than 140 creative individuals since 2009.

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The 2022 awardees are:

Poetry

Agata Maslowska

Helena Fornells Nadal

Roshni Gallagher

Children’s and Young Adult

Armarna Forbes

Lindsay Hirst

Fiction and Narrative Non-Fiction

Dougie Strang

Eimear Bush

Firas Ibrahim

Rae Cowie

Gaelic

Shelagh Campbell

The judging panel included Jenny Colgan, Sheena Kalayil and Viccy Adams for fiction; Jen Campbell, Sean Wai Keung and Laura Fyfe for poetry; and Akemi Dawn Bowman and Ross Sayers for Children’s and Young Adult fiction, alongside Scottish Book Trust staff.

The Gaelic Books Council selects the Gaelic New Writer awardee.

Marc Lambert, CEO of Scottish Book Trust, said: “Announcing our New Writer awardees is a fantastic way to start 2022.

“Some of this year’s cohort have interacted with other Scottish Book Trust programmes, and we are delighted they have reached this stage of their journey.

“We wish all the awardees best of luck and look forward to seeing their publications in the future.”