MORE than £1m in arts funding, including cash for writers, artists, musicians and festivals, has been announced by the nation's main cultural funding body.

Forty-four projects and organisations have received funding in the latest round.

These include the Sound festival in the north east of Scotland, which has commissioned the composer Sally Beamish to write and perform a work for six violas for a debut this year.

The festival has received £150,000 as part of the Open Funding announced yesterday and will run from from 25 October to 4 November.

Elsewhere, Ceol's Craic Gaelic project at the CCA in Glasgow has received funding, as has the Caithness-based Lyth Arts Centre - Scotland's most northerly mainland arts centre.

The Borders Book Festival, and Booked!, West Dunbartonshire's book festival, have received funding and Edinburgh-based Charco Press have received funding to deliver the first part of its 2018 publishing programme consisting of three books by contemporary award-winning Latin American authors who have never before been published in English.

The Tiree Music Festival has also been funded to support Elevate, a new stage to celebrate the year of Young People.

Among the theatre awards, Sruth-Mara, which is Gaelic for 'sea current', a new arts organisation based in Uig on the Isle of Lewis has received £15,000 in funding to support its inaugural programme.

The organisation’s aim is to develop high quality artistic projects from Uig.

Claire Byers, interim director of Arts and Engagement at Creative Scotland said: "This round of Open Project Funding represents a fantastic range of creative practice in communities across Scotland, from the Lyth Arts Centre in Caithness, to Sruth-Mara on Lewis, The Borders Book Festival in Melrose and our support for young and emerging musicians at this year’s Tiree Music Festival.

"While, as always, there are many more good applications than we have the funds to support, these latest awards do provide invaluable support to the successful applicants and demonstrates what is possible through Open Project Funding."