Literature Forum for Scotland Members

A short profile of each member of the Literature Forum for Scotland is available from the following list.

 

Association of Scottish Literary Agents

The Association of Scottish Literary Agents (ASLA) is the national trade body for literary agents in Scotland.
It's a voluntary organisation providing literary agents in Scotland with a forum to discuss matters of common professional interest. The forum enables agents to collaborate on projects, to lobby for crucial funding and to ensure effective dissemination of information at a time when the publishing industry world-wide is undergoing significant changes, and which have a direct impact on writers.
 

 

Association for Scottish Literary Studies

For the promotion and study of the languages and literature of Scotland.
The Association for Scottish Literary Studies (ASLS) has over 500 members, teachers and students, individuals and institutions, worldwide. Many are noted authors, poets and academics, who provide expertise and advice on a voluntary basis.
Nearly 10,000 ASLS publications are distributed annually, with others available free online.  ASLS holds annual conferences on Scottish literature and languages and their place in the classroom, monitor educational developments, and runs the Scottish Writing Exhibition which showcases Scottish literature at major conventions in North America and continental Europe.

 

Book Nation

Online information portal about Scotland’s literary festivals.
Uniquely in Britain, Scotland has created an umbrella organisation, Book Nation, to help its
43 book festivals co-operate, jointly promote themselves, create a common website and printed calendar, and set up training to encourage best practice and foster skills.

 

 

Dumfries and Galloway Arts

Dumfries and Galloway Arts association, dgArts, 

  • believes everyone has a right to an expressive life
  • sees Dumfries and Galloway as a place where creativity and innovation are visible
    and valued
  • initiates and supports arts development at all levels, from grassroots to national
    and international work and projects
  • develops and coordinates creative partnerships with other agencies
  • provides an independent single point of contact for a wide range of arts and cultural
    information, professional advice, marketing and ticket sales.

 

Edinburgh International Book Festival

The largest festival of its kind in the world.
The Edinburgh International Book Festival is the largest and most successful public celebration of the written word in the world. Founded in 1983 the Book Festival takes place
in Charlotte Square in the heart of the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature. In 2008 over 200,000 people attended over 750 events, with authors from 45 different countries.
Amongst the cultural, political and scientific themes the Festival encompasses, Scottish literature, history and identity form an integral part of the programme with over 200 Scottish authors participating. In addition to the main programme there is a distinct programme for children and schools.

 

Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust

Promoting literary Edinburgh, the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature.
Building upon the honour conferred by UNESCO in 2004 in designating Edinburgh the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature. We are an independent organisation that works in partnership, providing a focus and coordination for literary activity, promoting Edinburgh nationally and internationally as a place of literature. We promote literary Edinburgh, encourage involvement in Scotland’s literature and develop literary partnerships around the world through a network of Cities of Literature. Our programmes – including the citywide reading campaign - focus on participation, learning, advocacy and nurturing creativity.

 

Comhairle nan Leabhraichean / The Gaelic Books Council

Supporting writers and publishers with commissions and grants for Gaelic books.
Set up in 1968 in Glasgow and now a free-standing charitable company with five employees. It provides financial assistance to publishers through publication grants paid for individual titles, and also commissions authors to produce original new Gaelic works. Full editorial advice and guidance is available, and a professional proofreading service. The Council has its own bookshop which stocks all Gaelic and Gaelic-related books in print, and also offers online, mail order and mobile sales services at selected national and local events.

 

National Library of Scotland

Housing over 14 million printed items.
The NLS is Scotland’s largest library and repository of the written heritage of Scotland. The Library plays an active role in collecting and promoting the works of all Scotland’s writers, ensuring guaranteed access to them for the current population of Scotland, and long-term preservation of them for the future.

  

 

Moniack Mhor

Time to write

Moniack Mhor Writers’ Centre runs Arvon residential writing courses for adults six months of the year, as well as residential and day courses for charities, schools and other partners outwith these months. The tutors are all well established authors and experienced writing teachers. Moniack was founded in 1993 and is dedicated to encouraging creative writing.


 

Playwrights Studio, Scotland

Supporting Scotland's playwrights.
Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland develop and celebrate the exceptional talents and achievements of Scotland’s diverse playwrights with sustained, good quality support, whatever stage a writer is at in their career. They work to engage the people of Scotland directly with new playwriting and raise the standard of plays for presentation to the public.
Activities include workshops, development programs, a monthly e-bulletin, a plays library and much more. Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland also acts as an advocate for Scotland's playwrights both within the UK and abroad.

  

Publishing Scotland

Representing Scottish publishers.
Publishing Scotland aims to be the lead body for the publishing sector in Scotland by supporting and helping create an environment that allows publishers, writers and content producers to thrive; and to play a part in fostering excellence in the production and delivery of creative content in the 21st century.

Publishing Scotland also run BookSource, a book distribution company based in Cambuslang, and the information portal and online bookshop BooksfromScotland.com.

 

Saltire Society

Founded in 1936, the Saltire Society is a non political charity which promotes Scottish life and culture. By joining, you too can support these aims. Annual subscription is £30.

 

 

Scottish Book Trust

Scottish Book Trust is the leading agency for the promotion of literature in Scotland, developing innovative projects to encourage adults and children to read, write and be inspired by books.

  • We invest £3 million per year to inspire and encourage readers and writers in Scotland
  • We fund over 1,200 literature events connecting 50,000 readers with writers through Live Literature Funding
  • We reach every child between the ages of 0 – 5 years in Scotland through our Bookbug book gifting programme
  • We reach over 250,000 children annually with our BBC webcast collaboration ‘Authors Live’
  • We champion and support over 400 Scottish writers and illustrators throughout their careers
  • We run the biggest children’s book awards in the UK, judged by over 45,000 schoolchildren
  • We develop resources to support hundreds of teachers and librarians
  • We promote the joy of reading and writing to 20,000 online visitors a month 
     

 

Scottish Centre for the Book Napier University

The Scottish Centre for the Book at Edinburgh Napier University provides an open door for research, consultancy, continuing professional development and knowledge exchange in the fields of authorship, publishing, across all platforms and reading.
Its members offer a diversity of experience, skills and understanding from the operational aspects of rights management to international markets for textbooks. SCOB Members are drawn from backgrounds in book and magazine publishing, literary agency, bookselling, arts administration, web and online publishing, librarianship and research.

 

Scots Language Centre

All you need to know on the Scots language.
This is the main online gateway to information about Scots and its dialects. The Centre seeks to promote Scots and encourage its use amongst existing and new adult speakers. The Centre has an extensive archive of video and audio material in various forms and registers of Scots - both historic and contemporary. SLC recognises that, for most Scots speakers, the language and its culture are experienced in oral form. The Centre is particularly interested in encouraging the use of spoken Scots dialects.

 

Scots Language Dictionaries

Scottish Language Dictionaries is the nation's resource for the Scots language. We research Scots texts from all periods of history, and record and analyse the language as it is spoken and written throughout Scotland today.
From this research we compile and maintain authoritative dictionaries of Scots, including the great historical dictionaries, A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue and the Scottish National Dictionary, the scholarly single volume Concise Scots Dictionary and the handy Essential Scots Dictionary. 

 

Scottish Library and Information Council

The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) is the advisory body to the Scottish Government and Scottish Ministers on library and information matters.
SLIC members include all local authority, higher education, further education organisations, NHS Trust library services as well as other specialist library and information organisations, including the National Library.

 

Scottish PEN

One of the centres of PEN International, a worldwide association of writers pledged to protect freedom of expression and promote literature across frontiers.
Scottish PEN campaigns on behalf of persecuted writers and against discrimination, supports exiled writers in Scotland, and works for international exchange and understanding. It organises events and projects to promote Scottish writing in Scotland and overseas. Membership is open to all published or performed writers, journalists and editors.

 

Scottish Poetry Library

The Scottish Poetry Library is the place for poetry in Scotland, for the regular reader, the serious student or the casual browser.
The Scottish Poetry Library aims to bring people and poems together. A unique national resource and advocate for poetry, it is based in Edinburgh’s literary quarter and holds more than 40,000 items of Scottish and international poetry. It hosts events in Edinburgh and with partners throughout Scotland; takes poetry into schools; provides professional development opportunities for librarians, teachers and poets; and works in partnership with organisations as varied as Parliament, PoppyScotland and the National Galleries to enrich their programmes.

 

Scottish Society of Playwrights

 

Scottish Storytelling Centre

All you need to know about Scotland's rich storytelling traditions.
This is hub of a nationwide network and flagship for the global renaissance of oral storytelling. Over 600,000 people participated in storytelling events in Scotland in 2010. The Scottish Storytelling Centre itself attracts 100,000 visitors and works with partner organisations to provide a literature quarter in the capital city. Storytellers have mined a rich seam for Scottish publishing and ambassadored Scottish literature and culture across the world. In education, storytelling is a gateway to reading and, in tourism, part of Scotland's cultural offer.

 

 

Scottish Writers’ Centre

Bringing together writers working in Scotland.
The Scottish Writers’ Centre is a charity registered in Scotland, operating at present from the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow. It aims to support and promote the work of Scottish writers and to provide an international showcase space for Scottish literature as well as to bring international writers to Scottish audiences.
Its ultimate objective is to create a dedicated social and business arena where writers can meet and share ideas and experiences, combined with a facility which provides services for writers – including performance and workshop space, writing pods, cafe, writer's flat, bookshop, competitions and fellowships. 
 

Society of Authors in Scotland

A non-profit making organisation, founded in 1884, "to protect the rights and further the interests of authors".
The Society of Authors in Scotland (SOAIS) has approx 580 members and is part of the UK Society of Authors, an independent trade union which exists to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. The committee is in close touch with both individual needs and the wider politics of publishing. SOAIS members are all published authors, encompassing every genre; they represent all stages, from writers starting their careers to the best known and critically acclaimed names in modern Scottish literature.

 

Universities Committee for Scottish Literature

The Universities Committee for Scottish Literature was established in 2008. It has members and interests in common with the Association for Scottish Literary Studies, but its specific focus is on the condition, the development and the promotion of Scottish literary studies in tertiary education at home and abroad. The Committee also aims to speak for Scottish literary study whenever matters of policy are discussed in educational or other public bodies. Membership of the Committee is open to representatives from all Higher Education Institutions in Scotland that are engaged with teaching and research in Scottish Literature and related cultural studies. Members from other organisations may also be co-opted to serve on the Committee.

 

Writers’ Guild of Great Britain

WGGB Scottish branch

Established in 1958, its mission, then as now, was to ensure that writers of all media are properly represented. The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain is the trade union representing writers in TV, radio, theatre, books, poetry, film, online and video games.  It is affiliated to the Trades Union Congress. In TV, film, radio and theatre, the Guild is the recognised body for negotiating minimum terms and practice agreements for writers. We campaign and lobby on behalf of all writers.

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