Longlist Announced for the McIlvanney Prize 2022
Sponsored by The Glencairn Glass
Winners to be presented on Thursday 15th September
In Bloody Scotland’s 10th Anniversary year, a clear longlist of ten emerged after the readers scores were tallied. The longlist for the McIlvanney Prize 2022 – which is dominated by two Scottish independent publishers, Canongate and Polygon – is today revealed to be:
A Matter of Time, Claire Askew (Hodder)
The Sound of Sirens, Ewan Galt (Leamington Books)
The Blood Tide, Neil Lancaster (Harpercollins)
From the Ashes, Deborah Masson (Transworld)
The Heretic, Liam McIlvanney (Harpercollins)
May God Forgive, Alan Parks (Canongate)
A Corruption of Blood, Ambrose Parry (Canongate)
A Rattle of Bones, Douglas Skelton (Polygon)
The Second Cut, Louise Welsh (Canongate)
2.5 of the authors have won the prize before, Liam McIlvanney (in 2018), Denise Mina (in 2017) and Chris Brookmyre (2016) who continues his lucky streak as 50% of Ambrose Parry. He has appeared on every longlist either as himself or his alter ego.
Previous Debut winners, discovered at Bloody Scotland, are now featuring on the main prize list too. Claire Askew was the inaugural winner of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize in 2019 and Deborah Masson won it in 2020.
Bob McDevitt, Director of Bloody Scotland International Crime Writing Festival said:
‘I’m so pleased to see such an excellent longlist of books in the running for this year’s McIlvanney prize. Police procedurals dominate this year, set all around Scotland and from the 1970s to the present day, along with a few striking historical novels (set before the 1970s!) and some contemporary Glasgow noir. Once again, the judges have their work cut out for them!’
The McIlvanney Prize will be judged by Ayo Onatade, winner of the CWA Red Herring Award and freelance crime fiction critic, Janice Forsyth, presenter of the Afternoon Show on BBC Radio Scotland and Ewan Wilson, crime fiction buyer from Waterstones Glasgow. The Glencairn Glass, the world’s favourite whisky glass, is again sponsoring both The McIlvanney Prize and The Bloody Scotland Debut Crime Novel of the Year for 2022.
Kirsty Nicholson, Glencairn’s Design and Marketing Manager commented:
‘This is our third year of sponsoring the McIlvanney Prize with the Glencairn Glass and once again we’re delighted to see such an exciting longlist for the award. Congratulations to all the authors who have made it this far. The books featured on the longlist provide the perfect opportunity to discover the best in crime fiction alongside a wee dram of whisky in the world’s favourite whisky glass.’
Finalists for the McIlvanney Prize will be revealed at the beginning of September. The winner will be revealed in Stirling on Thursday 15 September. The Debut shortlist will be revealed on Tuesday 28 July.
About Bloody Scotland
Bloody Scotland is Scotland’s International Crime Writing Festival, providing a showcase for the best crime writing from Scotland and the world, unique in that it was set up by a group of Scottish crime writers in 2012. Full information at www.bloodyscotland.com
The Bloody Scotland board is made up of co-founder Lin Anderson, Craig Robertson, Gordon Brown, Abir Mukherjee, James Crawford, Muriel Robertson and Catriona Reynolds.
About The McIlvanney Prize
The McIlvanney Prize recognises excellence in Scottish crime writing, includes a prize of £1000 and nationwide promotion in Waterstones. Previous winners are Craig Russell with Hyde in 2021, Francine Toon with Pine in 2020, Manda Scott with A Treachery of Spies in 2019 (who chose to share her prize with all the finalists), Liam McIlvanney with The Quaker in 2018, Denise Mina with The Long Drop 2017, Chris Brookmyre with Black Widow 2016, Craig Russell with The Ghosts of Altona in 2015, Peter May with Entry Island in 2014, Malcolm Mackay with How A Gunman Says Goodbye in 2013 and Charles Cumming with A Foreign Country in 2012.
The initial longlisting is handled by over 100 crime fiction readers from all over Scotland including booksellers, bloggers, librarians and festival-goers and the longlist is then handed to the high-profile team of judges to decide on the eventual winner.
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