THE TRAVERSE Theatre in Edinburgh is undergoing a consultation to see how it can increase the number of plays performed on its stages.
The chair of the company said it was looking to see how it can make the theatre "truly fit for the future."
The board of the theatre announced on Friday it has appointed Gareth Nicholls, previously the organisation’s Associate Director, to the position of Interim Artistic Director.
He will assume the role, working with executive producer Linda Crooks, from 5 December, the date on which the outgoing artistic director Orla O’Loughlin departs from the to take up the post of vice principal and director of drama at Guildhall School of Music and Drama from the beginning of 2019.
Mr Nicholls joined the Traverse in May 2017, having previously been in post as the Citizen Theatre’s main stage director in residence.
Since joining he has directed David Ireland’s Ulster American as well as the world premieres of Gary McNair’s Letters to Morrissey, Morna Pearson’s How to Disappear and Clare Duffy’s Arctic Oil.
Sir John Elvidge, chair of the Traverse’s board said: “The programming of the Traverse will continue to be a collaborative effort between many members of the team, and we are excited about the new perspectives and ideas that Gareth will bring while the Board takes this opportunity to undertake a period of consultation to explore how the Traverse can increase the number of exciting new plays produced on our stages and make itself truly fit for the future.”
Mr Nicholls said: “I’m thrilled to be able to contribute further to the Traverse at this exciting time as its Interim Artistic Director.
"Orla has created a vibrant and bold organisation, full of enthusiastic and creative individuals who are passionate about telling important stories and representing the dynamism of modern Scotland. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with my colleagues on this mission."
www.traverse.co.uk
FOURTEEN books are in the running for the Highland Book Prize.
The longlist of titles for The Highland Book Prize 2018 are The Last Wilderness by Neil Ansell, Into the Peatlands: A Journey Through the Moorland Year by Robert A Crawford, The Walrus Mutterer by Mandy Haggith, An Còta Dathach le Donnchadh MacGillIosa, In the Cage Where your Saviours Hide by Malcolm Mackay, The Story Keeper by Anna Mazzola, Broken Ground by Val McDermid, Now We Shall Be Entirely Free by Andrew Miller, As the Women Lay Dreaming by Donald S Murray, A Richness of Martens: Wildlife Tales from Ardnamurchan by Polly Pullar, Highland Herald: Reporting from the North by David Ross, The Assynt Crofter by Judith Ross Napier, The Valley at the Centre of the World by Malachy Tallack and A History of Scotland’s Landscapes by Fiona Watson and Piers Dixon.
It is expected that the shortlist will be announced in early March with the winner revealed on May 11 next year at the Ullapool Book Festival.
Presented by the Highland Society of London, The Highland Book Prize is facilitated by Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre in partnership with the Ullapool Book Festival.
The winning entry will receive a cash prize of £1000 and a place on a writing retreat at Moniack Mhor.
Rachel Humphries, director of Moniack Mhor, said: "I think we have a really strong longlist for the second year of the Highland Book Prize.
"It’s lovely to see more fiction books on the list this year including two crime novels, a genre that was not represented last year.
"The diversity in the non-fiction books is equally exciting with a broad range of topics representing memoir, and the ecology and landscape of the Highlands.
"We are also thrilled to have Gaelic fiction represented with the addition of An Còta Dathach by Donnchadh MacGillIosa. The spread of publishers appearing on the longlist is very encouraging and displays the development of the award over the year.
The second round of judging will be undertaken by a panel including Jenny Niven, head of literature at Creative Scotland, novelist and poet Kevin MacNeil and Alex Ogilvie of the Highland Society of London.
www.highlandbookprize.org.uk
THE Scottish Book Trust has announced that the Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship for professional writers is now open for applications.
Previous fellows include novelist Jenni Fagan, the former Makar Liz Lochhead, and poet and performer Michael Pedersen.
The Fellowship awards successful applicants with a retreat to Grez-sur-Loing in France, a village that Robert Louis Stevenson visited frequently.
It was initiated in 1994 by Franki Fewkes, a Scottish RLS enthusiast then living in France, and is supported by Creative Scotland.
It provides residencies for four fellows for one month each, in a self-catering studio apartment at the Hôtel Chevillon International Arts Centre at Grez-sur-Loing.
Travel and accommodation are paid for, and there is a grant of £300 per week to cover living expenses.
Grez-sur-Loing is situated at the edge of the Forest of Fontainebleau, France, and was first visited by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1875.
He also met his future wife, Fanny Osbourne, at the Hôtel Chevillon.
www.scottishbooktrust.com/writing
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