Association for Scottish Literary Studies
Encyclopedia
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
educational charity
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
, founded in 1970 to promote and support the teaching, study and writing of Scottish literature
Scottish literature
Scottish literature is literature written in Scotland or by Scottish writers. It includes literature written in English, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Brythonic, French, Latin and any other language in which a piece of literature was ever written within the boundaries of modern Scotland.The earliest...
. Its founding members included the Scottish literary scholar Matthew McDiarmid (1914–1996). Originally based at the University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
, it moved to its current home within the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
in 1996. ASLS is supported by Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland is a development body for arts and cultural industries in Scotland. It inherited the functions of Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council on 1 July 2010, and has an additional remit for the Creative Industries...
.
ASLS's main field of activity is publishing
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
, and the Association is a member of Publishing Scotland.
Periodicals
ASLS produces a number of periodicals, including Scottish Literary Review (formerly Scottish Studies Review), a peer reviewPeer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
ed journal
Academic journal
An academic journal is a peer-reviewed periodical in which scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. Academic journals serve as forums for the introduction and presentation for scrutiny of new research, and the critique of existing research...
of Scottish literature and cultural studies
Cultural studies
Cultural studies is an academic field grounded in critical theory and literary criticism. It generally concerns the political nature of contemporary culture, as well as its historical foundations, conflicts, and defining traits. It is, to this extent, largely distinguished from cultural...
; Scottish Language, a peer reviewed journal of Scottish languages and linguistics
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
; The International Journal of Scottish Literature, a free online peer reviewed journal; and The Bottle Imp, a free online ezine (named after the short story
The Bottle Imp
The Bottle Imp is a short story by the Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson usually found in the short story collection Island Nights' Entertainments...
by Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
).
Annual Volumes
Since 1971 ASLS has republished a number of out of printOut of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
Scottish texts in their Annual Volumes series (40 volumes to date). Titles in the series include reprints of 18th- and 19th-century fiction, anthologies of Scottish drama, editions of poetry and collections of other writings. Two ASLS Annual Volumes have won Saltire Society
Saltire Society
The Saltire Society was established in 1936 to encourage everything that might improve the quality of life in Scotland and restore the country to its proper place as a creative force in European civilisation....
Research Book of the Year awards: The Poems of William Dunbar
William Dunbar
William Dunbar was a Scottish poet. He was probably a native of East Lothian, as assumed from a satirical reference in the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie , where, too, it is hinted that he was a member of the noble house of Dunbar....
, edited by Priscilla Bawcutt (1998), and Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean was one of the most significant Scottish poets of the 20th century.-Early life:He was born at Osgaig on the island of Raasay on 26 October 1911, where Scottish Gaelic was the first language. He attended the University of Edinburgh and was an avid shinty player playing for the...
's Dàin do Eimhir, edited by Christopher Whyte
Christopher Whyte
Christopher Whyte is a Scottish poet, novelist, translator and critic.He was born in 1952 in Glasgow and graduated from St. Aloysius' College and, later, Cambridge University. For many years he lived in Italy before moving back to Scotland in 1985 to teach Scottish literature at Glasgow University...
(2002).
New Writing Scotland
Since its first issue in 1983, many contemporary Scottish writers have had early work published in ASLS's annual anthologyAnthology
An anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler. It may be a collection of poems, short stories, plays, songs, or excerpts...
of new short fiction and poetry, New Writing Scotland, including Leila Aboulela
Leila Aboulela
Leila Aboulela , Arabic ليلى ابوالعلا is a Sudanese writer and playwright. She writes in English.- Personal life :Born in 1964 Cairo, Egypt, Aboulela grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, where she attended the Khartoum American School and Sister School...
, Iain Banks
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
, Anne Donovan
Anne Donovan (author)
Anne Donovan is a Scottish author from Coatbridge most known for her award-winning Buddha Da. She also wrote the short story collection Hieroglyphics...
, Janice Galloway
Janice Galloway
Janice Galloway is a writer of novels, short stories, prose-poetry, non-fiction and libretti-Biography:She is the second daughter of James Galloway and Janet Clark McBride. Her parents separated when she was four and her father died when she was six. Her sister Nora, sixteen years older, died in...
, A L Kennedy, James Meek
James Meek (author)
James Meek is a British writer and journalist. He was born in London and grew up in Dundee, Scotland.Meek spent several years living in the former Soviet Union in the 1990s and now resides in London. He has published four novels and two short story collections. In 2004 he was named Foreign...
, Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...
, James Robertson
James Robertson (novelist)
James Robertson is a Scottish writer who grew up in Bridge of Allan, Stirlingshire. He is the author of several short story and poetry collections, and has published three novels: The Fanatic, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack, and And the Land Lay Still. The Testament of Gideon Mack was...
, Suhayl Saadi
Suhayl Saadi
Suhayl Saadi is a physician, author and dramatist based in Glasgow, Scotland. His varied literary output includes novels, short stories, anthologies of fiction, song lyrics, plays for stage and radio theatre, and wisdom pieces for The Dawn Patrol, the Sarah Kennedy show on BBC Radio...
, Chiew-Siah Tei
Chiew-Siah Tei
- Biography :Tei was born and grew up in Tampin, southern Malaysia, and published her first work in the 1980s. During the 1990s she published prose and commentary in journals including Sin Chew Jit Poh and Nanyang Siang Pao, winning nominations and several awards - including the Hua Zong...
, Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh
Irvine Welsh is a contemporary Scottish novelist, best known for his novel Trainspotting. His work is characterised by raw Scottish dialect, and brutal depiction of the realities of Edinburgh life...
, and others.
Occasional Papers
The ASLS Occasional Papers series publishes essays and monographs on Scottish literary and linguistic topics, usually based on papers presented at ASLS conferencesAcademic conference
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...
. The most recent edition in this series, number 15, is entitled Scottish and International Modernisms: Relationships and Reconfigurations, and contains papers presented at a conference held at the University of Stirling
University of Stirling
The University of Stirling is a campus university founded by Royal charter in 1967, on the Airthrey Estate in Stirling, Scotland.-History and campus development:...
in 2009.
Scotnotes
ASLS publishes the Scotnotes series of study guideStudy guide
Study guides can be broad based to facilitate learning in a number of areas, or be resources that foster comprehension of literature, research topics, history, and other subjects....
s to Scottish writers and their literary works. There are currently thirty titles in this series, on authors ranging from late medieval poets such as William Dunbar
William Dunbar
William Dunbar was a Scottish poet. He was probably a native of East Lothian, as assumed from a satirical reference in the Flyting of Dunbar and Kennedie , where, too, it is hinted that he was a member of the noble house of Dunbar....
and Robert Henryson
Robert Henryson
Robert Henryson was a poet who flourished in Scotland in the period c. 1460–1500. Counted among the Scots makars, he lived in the royal burgh of Dunfermline and is a distinctive voice in the Northern Renaissance at a time when the culture was on a cusp between medieval and renaissance sensibilities...
to contemporary writers such as Iain Banks
Iain Banks
Iain Banks is a Scottish writer. He writes mainstream fiction under the name Iain Banks, and science fiction as Iain M. Banks, including the initial of his adopted middle name Menzies...
, Liz Lochhead
Liz Lochhead
Liz Lochhead is a Scottish poet and dramatist, originally from Newarthill in North Lanarkshire.-Background:After attending Glasgow School of Art, Lochhead lectured in fine art for eight years before becoming a professional writer....
and Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin
Ian Rankin, OBE, DL , is a Scottish crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels. He has also written several pieces of literary criticism.-Background:He attended Beath High School, Cowdenbeath...
.
Other Titles
In May 2010, in partnership with the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National ParkLoch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park
Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park is a national park in Scotland centred on Loch Lomond, and includes several ranges of hills, the Trossachs being the most famous...
, ASLS published an illustrated edition of Sir Walter Scott's narrative poem The Lady of the Lake
The Lady of the Lake (poem)
The Lady of the Lake is a narrative poem by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1810. Set in the Trossachs region of Scotland, it is composed of six cantos, each of which concerns the action of a single day...
, to mark the 200th anniversary of the original publication. In June 2011, with financial support from the Gaelic Books Council, ASLS published a new edition of Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean was one of the most significant Scottish poets of the 20th century.-Early life:He was born at Osgaig on the island of Raasay on 26 October 1911, where Scottish Gaelic was the first language. He attended the University of Edinburgh and was an avid shinty player playing for the...
's An Cuilithionn/The Cuillin, shortlisted for the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year award 2011.
Exhibitions
Since 2004, ASLS has mounted the Scottish Writing Exhibition at the Modern Language Association of AmericaModern Language Association
The Modern Language Association of America is the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature...
's annual conventions in the USA, most recently in Los Angeles in January 2011, and plans to attend the 2012 event in Seattle. In August 2008 the Scottish Writing Exhibition was on display at the biannual European Society for the Study of English
European Society for the Study of English
Founded in 1990 in Rome, the European Society for the Study of English is the largest and most comprehensive organization for university teachers and researchers in English Studies, including literature, linguistics, and cultural studies, throughout Europe. The Society has more than 7,000 members...
(ESSE) conference in Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
.
Presidents
A number of literary scholars have held the presidency of the ASLS:- John MacQueen (1970–1973)
- Tom Dunn (1973–1976)
- Alexander Scott (1976–1979)
- David DaichesDavid DaichesDavid Daiches was a Scottish literary historian and literary critic, scholar and writer. He wrote extensively on English literature, Scottish literature and Scottish culture.-Early life:...
(1979–1984) - Tom Crawford (1984–1989)
- Maurice LindsayMaurice LindsayMaurice Lindsay CBE was a Scottish broadcaster, writer and poet. He was born in Glasgow.After serving in World War II he became a radio broadcaster, also editing the 1946 anthology Modern Scottish Poetry, and writing music criticism. He later was Programme Controller at Border Television.His...
(1989–1993) - John Blackburn (1993–1994)
- David Robb (1994–1998)
- Dorothy McMillan (1998–2002)
- Alan MacGillivray (2002–2006)
- Alan Riach (2006–2010)
- Ian Brown (2010–present)