McDermid is Booker judge
THE judges of the 2018 Man Booker Prize, the prestigious fiction prize, have been announced.
The 50th anniversary award jury is chaired by the philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah.
He will be joined by Scottish crime writer Val McDermid, the critic Leo Robson, the writer and critic Jacqueline Rose and the artist and graphic novelist Leanne Shapton.
Gaby Wood, Literary Director of the Booker Prize Foundation, says: "This year’s judging panel is not only stellar in its distinction, its members have a stunningly broad range of tastes and enthusiasms too.
"They are all long-standing champions of creative work who will be open to any novel that may come their way, regardless of genre or geography."
The judging panel will be looking for the best novel of the year, selected from entries published in the UK between 1 October 2017 and 30 September 2018.
The 2017 Man Booker Prize for Fiction winner was Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders.
The ‘Man Booker Dozen’ of 12 or 13 books will be announced in July 2018 and the shortlist of six books in September 2018.
The winner of the £50,000 prize will be announced on 16 October 2018.
www.themanbookerprize.com
Open Funding revealed
THIRTY THREE projects have been given funding in the latest Open Project Funding round from Creative Scotland.
Awards of between £1,430 and £99,000 have been made in November.
The recipients include artists, musicians, writers, theatre makers, festivals and organisations across the arts.
In total more than £390,000 has been distributed.
Birnam Art Centre have received funding towards its 2018 programme that will include theatre, music, dance, lectures, comedy and an exhibition space.
The Best Medicine Comedy Café has received funding to support its free participatory creative project for people living in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow.
The Ullapool Book Festival, which takes place from 11-13 May 2018, has received funding towards its programme, which includes contemporary writers, poets, and writers of fiction and non-fiction.
www.creativescotland.com/funding
Dundee show in NY
A DUNDEE University project that incorporates everyday materials in the design of prosthetic hands has gone on display at a prestigious New York museum.
'Hands of X', an initiative led by design researchers from the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) at the University of Dundee and University College London, design made-to-order prosthetics that come in a choice of materials including leather, woods, wools and metals.
There work will be on display in ‘Access+Ability’ at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York until September 2018.
www.dundee.ac.uk
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