THE leading writer John Burnside has won the prestigious Scottish Book of the Year award for his "lyrical and moving" collection of short stories.
Burnside won the Saltire Society's award at Glasgow's Mitchell Library last night, with judges saying his book, Something Like Happy, excelled in an "exceptional short list".
Burnside is one of few writers to win both the TS Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book, Black Cat Bone.
Professor Ian Campbell, the convener of the Book of the Year and First Book Panel, said: "From first writers to established names, the quality was exceptional, with John Burnside's collection of beautifully crafted, lyrical and moving stories to the fore."
Magnus Linklater, president of the Saltire Society, said: "Our literary heritage is internationally renowned and the future is in similarly fine fettle, with the quality of work evident in these awards."
The First Book awards went to two books, Air Cuan Dubh Drilseach by Tim Armstrong and As Far As I Can See by Eunice Buchanan. The research book of the year went to The Sunlit Summit: The Life of WH Murray by Robin Lloyd-Jones
The Scottish history book of the year was won by An Enlightened Duke: The Life of Archibald Campbell (1682-1761), Earl of Ilay, 3rd Duke of Argyll by Roger L Emerson.
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