Newcastle University

In Andrew Crumey's 'Sputnik Caledonia' Robbie Coyle dreams of going to space. In 1970s Scotland this ambition marks him out almost as much as his eccentric family does – in particular, his avidly socialist father. Indoctrinated in the ways of the Left, Robbie can’t entertain the idea of going into orbit with the capitalist Americans. So he gets a ‘teach yourself Russian’ book from the library and settles down with Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity by his side.

Dr Crumey is a lecturer in Creative Writing in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics at Newcastle University. 

The Book Awards continue to be a celebration of Scotland’s contemporary literary scene and offer awards to published authors from, or based in, Scotland.   They are sponsored by Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust in association with the Scottish Arts Council. The SMI shortlist was announced on 5th March 2009.

The shortlist for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize was announced on 14th May, 2009. More information here.