By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
A Longlist Selected With Input from 100+ People
You may recall that Scotland’s Highland Book Prize, or Duais Leabhair na Gàidhealtachd, is one of the programs that designates its award cycles by the previous year. The 2021 winner, for example, Jen Hadfield, was named in June 2022. So it is that today’s announcement of a longlist is for the 2022 cycle, although the shortlist will be released in April and the winner will be named in May.
A co-presentation of the Highland Society of London and Moniack Mhor—the Highland Book Prize honor fiction, nonfiction, and poetry that “recognizes the rich talent, landscape, and cultural diversity of the Highlands.”
The longlist of 12 titles is drawn from an initial pool of 81 submissions and includes works of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Submissions were also welcomed from authors either born or brought up in the Highlands, as well as those who have made the region their home. The process of the longlist’s selection involved more than 100 readers in many parts of the world, a large corps of volunteers who ensure that each entry is reviewed and scored more than once.
Our readers will note that the Scottish-born author Douglas Stuart is on the longlist, following his 2020 Booker-winning Shuggie Bain with Young Mungo, released in April from Pan Mac/Picador in the United Kingdom and Grove Press in the States.
The 2022 Highland Book Prize Longlist
The longlist comprises six works of nonfiction, three works of fiction, and three of poetry.
| Author | Title | Publisher, Imprint | Category |
| Amanda Thompson | Belonging: Natural Histories of Place, Identity, and Home | Canongate | Nonfiction |
| Ali Smith | Companion Piece | Penguin Random House / Hamish Hamilton | Fiction |
| Tony Davidson | Confessions of a Highland Art Dealer | Woodwose Books | Nonfiction |
| Duncan Gillies | Crann-Fìge / Fig Tree: Short Stories | Acair | Fiction |
| Jennifer Morag Henderson | Daughters of the North: Jean Gordon and Mary Queen of Scots | Sandstone Press | Nonfiction |
| Murdo Macfarlane, edited by Catriona Murray | Doras Gun Chlàimhean | Acair | Poetry |
| Jenna Watt | Hindsight: In Search of Lost Wilderness | Birlinn | Nonfiction |
| Lydia Harris | Objects for Private Devotion | Pindrop Press | Poetry |
| Jim Crumley | Seasons of Storm and Wonder | Saraband | Nonfiction |
| Sharon Black | The Last Woman Born on the Island | Vagabond Voices | Poetry |
| Cynthia Rogerson | WAH! Things I Never Told My Mother | Sandstone Press | Nonfiction |
| Douglas Stuart | Young Mungo | Pan Macmillan / Picador | Fiction |
The longlist now goes to the Highland Prize jury for its rendering of a shortlist and winner.
This year, Alex Ogilvie retains his seat as chair. He’s joined by:
- Kapka Kassabova, poet and writer of fiction and narrative nonfiction, whose book Border (Granta) won the 2017 Highland Book Prize
- Mark Wringe, senior lecturer in Gaelic language and culture at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig, University of the Highlands and Islands
- Peter Mackay, poet, lecturer, and broadcaster, whose 2020 collection, Nàdur De (Some Kind of) was longlisted for the 2020 Highland Book Prize, and who was recently named Bard of An Comunn Gàidhealach at the 2022 National Mod
Rachel Humphries
In a prepared statement on today’s longlist announcement, Moniack Mhor Center director Rachel Humphries is quoted, saying, “The spread of genres represented is diverse and exciting.
“It’s good to see the area as something more than a source of inspiration. It demonstrates the breadth of high–quality work published by leading UK publishing houses alongside independent presses. The list includes authors who have achieved real literary success as well as new voices.
“The prize, in its fifth year, places the Highlands as geographically, culturally, and artistically important to the UK’s wider literature sector.”
This is Publishing Perspectives’ 211th awards-related report produced in the 225 publication days since our 2022 operations began on January 3.
The Paps of Jura in the Inner Hebrides, December 12. Image – Getty iStockphoto: Amelia Smith
See also:
The $35,000 Aspen Words Literary Prize Names Its 2023 Longlist
In England, the Booker Prize for Fiction Names Its 2023 Jurors
Chris Miller’s ‘Chip War’ Wins the 2022 FT Business Book of the Year Award
More from us on publishing and book awards in international markets is here, more on Scotland is here, and more on the UK market is here.