Scottish crime writer Val McDermid is to chair the Wellcome Book Prize’s 2017 judging panel, which features leading figures from across the worlds of literature, academia, science and the media.
McDermid is joined on the panel by Simon Baron-Cohen, professor of developmental psychopathology at the University of Cambridge; Gemma Cairney, BBC broadcaster and author; Tim Lewens, professor of philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge; and Di Speirs, books editor for BBC Radio.
The judging panel will be looking for the best book of the year – fiction or non-fiction – that engages with the topics of health and medicine. The prize aims to reach broad audiences, stimulating interest in and debate around medicine, health and illness through books and reading.
For the first time, the prize will release a longlist of 12 books, set to be announced in January 2017. This will be followed by a shortlist of six books in March 2017, with the winner being announced at a ceremony at Wellcome Collection in April 2017.
The crime writer on bingeing on West Wing, taking time out on computer games and the joys of first-class train travel
Illustration by Alan Vest
When I first became a full-time writer, I mostly had writing days. People seldom wanted to listen to me read, consult my opinion or watch me perform. But the combination of success and the proliferation of literary festivals and media platforms has profoundly altered the even tenor of my mostly isolated days.
That’s probably a benefit; the observation and the company of others is, after all, what provides a writer with raw material. Left to our own devices, we’ve got a tendency to adopt the habits of a hermit crab.
I tend to write in 20‑minute bursts. That seems to be the length of my concentration span
Now I try to carve out a chunk of the year when the other calls on my time are kept to a minimum. Three or four months when I can more or less stay at home and write. January, February, March and, when I can get away with it, into April. When the weather is at its most miserable and I mind being indoors least. But my life is complicated, so even then I spend the equivalent of one of most people’s working days on trains each week.
The finalists for a Scottish crime writing award named in honour of the late author William McIlvanney have been announced.
Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Doug Johnstone and ES Thomson are all shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize.
The winner of the Scottish Crime Book of the Year will be awarded The McIlvanney Prize at the opening ceremony of crime writing festival Bloody Scotland on Friday.
McIlvanney, who revitalised the Scottish crime genre and became known as the Godfather of Tartan Noir, died at his home in Glasgow on December 5, 2015 aged 79.
His brother, renowned sports journalist Hugh McIlvanney, will present the award at a ceremony in Stirling.
The winner will receive £1,000 and all four finalists will be presented with a full set of McIlvanney novels, including the acclaimed Laidlaw trilogy.
The crime writer on bingeing on West Wing, taking time out on computer games and the joys of first-class train travel
Val McDermid, Chris Brookmyre, Doug Johnstone and ES Thomson are all shortlisted for the McIlvanney Prize.