Scotland's National Poetry Book of the Year 2021

“I'm delighted to be shortlisted for the Saltire Society Poetry Award, and thrilled that Nàdar De - a book published in early 2020, in what seems quite a different world, with quite different existential threats - has struck a chord with the judges. The Society has long been a great supporter of Gaelic literature; being recognized by them is a huge honour."  Peter Mackay

A bilingual collection in Gaelic and English, “Nàdar De” is a challenging, contemporary expression of life for the modern Gael. Both rooted and outward-looking, it moves between the city and the Gaelic media to the Scottish islands, from the online world to Cuba and the US.  Pàdraig MacAoidh / Peter Mackay’s poems come at life from an angle, offering rewards for the engaged reader in their vigorous, wide-ranging and informed use of language and subject.  

“Acair is delighted that Nàdar De | Some Kind Of has been shortlisted for the Saltire Society Poetry Award. Peter Mackay's experimentalism with form complements his subject matters perfectly in this innovative collection."  Acair

“Ah'll bi toastin' this news wi a 10 year old bottl o' Irn Bru!    I am truly honoured to be shortlisted for this major Scottish award."   Owen Gallagher 

Clydebuilt treads nimble, sparkling lines across streets and floorboards, sawmills and libraries, beautifully working at knots threading between Glasgow and Donegal (with worldly glances). With a profound sense of place - as politics and as resting space for memory, and reckoning – labourers, cut-throats and tired mothers emerge from gorgeous, concrete-yet-vibrant poetic forms that catch a spirit of grief, of disregarded histories, of vicious politicians, of touching love. Gallagher’s is a sophisticated, wry, humorous, shocking record-keeping.   

“It is a privilege to be nominated for a Saltire award.  Appreciation patches The Threadbare Coat."  Tom Clark 

This is notably not a threadbare collection.  It is a very rich accompaniment to any voyage into the countryside.  The characters, the sounds the views the thoughts encountered as one is out in the wild spaces are thoughtfully captured in this elegant book of poems.  Pastoral poems written on the hillside, with space and elegance – careful observations of wood warblers, ripples, plovers and curlews and words recorded in a field notebook – the loch of the trout, hollow and pollen, cress and mint, little waves, thistledown.  One can imaging taking these words out for a walk along with the coat.  When, for whatever reason, it is difficult to get outside, these verses will transport the reader to the hills.  Matthew Whelton, a co-editor, provides a personal view on various aspects of the poets’ form, which some readers will find explanatory.   

  
I think of The Threadbare Coat as a way of creating a link between the dozens of minimal publications Thomas A. Clark has brought out with Moschatel and the three book-length poems that Carcanet has already published. I hope this shortlisting will introduce new readers to the massive pleasure of Tom's poems.     
editor, Matthew Welton 

“ It's a huge honour to be shortlisted for the prize. Since I moved to Edinburgh in 2011 as an undergraduate my practice has been shaped by the experience of connecting with and learning from other poets and writers in Scotland, who collectively gave me an education in poetry, writing, and community."  Daisy Lafarge  

This book is a strange concoction of biology, chemistry and personal relationships that somehow come together in poetic form. It is innovative in structure and form, always thought-provoking and sometimes humorous. An impressive debut collection. 

“We're so proud that Daisy's imperative first collection Life Without Air has been shortlisted for the Saltire prize. Much of this book's shape has been impacted by Scottish ecologies and spaces, wild and urban, and we're so delighted to see this, and her significant, exceptional work, recognised."  Rachael Allen, Granta Poetry Editor 

“I am extremely chuffed and encouraged to have Later That Day shortlisted for the Scottish National Book Awards. Though prose non-fiction and novels have absorbed much of my writing life, poetry has always been and remains my core activity, my source and resource, and so it is lovely to have my latest and possibly last collection acknowledged and valued. In the Seventies and first half of the Eighties Norman MacCaig would always ask when we met 'Not writing prose I hope, Mr Greig?', and at that time I could reply in all honesty 'Certainly not!'."  Andrew Greig 

Later That Day contains new works of gratitude and elegy. At once lyrical and direct, these poems take place in Glasgow, Auckland, the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, and above all amid the clear light and bare, fertile islands of Orkney. They look to come across the distance between writer and reader, between one person and another, as they register the magic and loss of living and loving. 

 “Later That Day” is an accomplished collection by an experienced writer. Rooted in the Scottish experience and the natural world, it also travels to the other side of the globe to offer intriguing poems inspired by New Zealand. Andrew Greig’s book examines friendship, love, ambition and aging with a light touch. 

“I'm thrilled to see Andrew Greig’s masterfully reflective collection Later That Day on the shortlist. It's a collection that tackles the inevitability of life in an approach that is at once light hearted and thought provoking. It travels through the depths of love but also explores the majesty in the mundane everydayness of it. Greig also pays homage to family and friends in this collection that we are proud to have on the Polygon list."  Edward Crossan, Editor 

“It’s such an honour to be shortlisted for Scotland’s National Book Awards. When I was writing Ben Dorain I wanted to create a conversation between Scotland’s poetic tradition and the modern world, and to explore how aspects of Scotland’s landscape and ecology might radiate out into wider, cross-cultural discussions about the environment. The Saltire Society is committed to fostering a cosmopolitan Scottish culture at home in the world, and so I’m overjoyed that Ben Dorain is shortlisted for the Poetry Award." Garry MacKenzie

Ben Dorain is a sumptuous production that that one will be drawn to by the strong cover image of a much viewed and loved Scottish mountain.  This unique volume records a conversation with the mountain from two mouthpieces: Duncan Ban MacIntyre’s 18th century voice and Garry Mackenzie’s 21st century echoes.  Mackenzie’s new translation is interspersed with his modern lines laid out across the page as two conversationalists with the same mountain – the latter with the added insights of modern environmental awareness.  The volume encourages the reader to reflect on both messages and focus on Ben Dorain as a symbol of the ever-changing Scottish countryside under present-day environmental stresses.  Fine introductions by Kathleen Jamie and Meg Bateman further set the context for the reader.  

“It is a great thrill to see Duncan Bàn MacIntrye’s song, so iconic among Gaelic speakers, being brought to the attention of English speakers in the new environment of Garry MacKenzie’s equally inventive poem. As we go into COP26 in Glasgow, MacKenzie’s poem makes MacIntyre’s blueprint of humanity as part of nature marvellously revelatory."  Meg Bateman, Scottish Gaelic Editor, The Irish Pages Press