SCOTLAND-based author Michel Faber's latest novel has been named Book of the Year by the Saltire Society.
Faber's work “The Book of Strange New Things”, with Scotland's most prestigious literary award after being picked from a shortlist of six other books.
The novelist previously won the Saltire First Book of the Year award for his 2000 debut novel Under the Skin, which was later adapted into a 2013 feature film directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Scarlett Johansson.
His 2002 novel The Crimson Petal and the White was dramatised as a four part BBC television series starring Romola Garai and Richard E. Grant in 2011.
Set in a not-so-distant future where a global corporation has successfully colonised a planet in a neighbouring galaxy, Faber’s latest book is a genre-defying novel that tells the story of Peter, a Christian pastor sent to carry out missionary work amongst the aliens native to the planet.
As the story progresses, Peter becomes increasingly uneasy about his situation and the mysterious disappearance of his predecessor and finds it more and more difficult to relate his experiences to his wife back home on Earth.
The novel also won the 2015 Saltire Society Scottish Fiction Book of the Year, beating off competition from a shortlist that included the latest works from 1995 Whitbread award winner Kate Atkinson, Gaelic language writer Norma Nicleoid and renowned Edinburgh writer Irvine Welsh.
Michel Faber collected both awards and an accompanying cash prize of £8,000 at a special ceremony at the Central Hall in Edinburgh on Thursday evening.
He said: “When I emigrated from Australia to a remote part of Scotland in 1993, I never expected that it would be the beginning rather than the end of my literary career. I'm so moved and grateful that this honour has been bestowed on my work. You've made an alien feel very welcome.”
Executive Director of the Saltire Society Jim Tough added: “Given the sheer breadth and variety of writing talent on display, this has been a vintage year for the Saltire Literary Awards.
"I think our decision to split the Literary Book Award into two separate categories for fiction and non-fiction has been vindicated. These and indeed every one of the individual book awards were hotly contested, making the judges’ decision a particularly challenging one.
"The same was also true of this year’s Publisher of the Year Award. My congratulations to all of the winners and my heartfelt thanks to the judging panel and to all of our partners and supporters who helped to make the 2015 Saltire Literary Awards such a resounding success.”
The award is supported by the National Library through Creative Scotland.
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