James Robertson (novelist)
Encyclopedia
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 long-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize
. Robertson also runs an independent publishing company called Kettillonia, and is a founder and general editor with Matthew Fitt
of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young people.
and Edinburgh University, Robertson attained a PhD in history at Edinburgh on the novels of Walter Scott
. He also spent an exchange year at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Robertson worked in a variety of jobs after leaving university, including a member of staff at a wildlife park and the book trade, as a sales rep and assistant manager of the Glasgow
branch of Waterstone's Booksellers.
, Lanarkshire. Robertson was heavily influenced by MacDiarmid and MacDiarmid's Scots language
poetry during this time. Robertson's early short stories and first novel used contemporary and historical life in Edinburgh as a key theme, drawing on the fact he lived there intermittently during his PhD and during the later 1990s before moving to Fife
, and subsequently Angus
. Each of his three novels have been influenced to a degree by where he was living when he wrote them. Joseph Knight revolved around a slave from the Caribbean who came to Scotland, but the novel revolves primarily around the cities of Dundee, near where Robertson was then living, and Edinburgh. The Testament of Gideon Mack, meanwhile, is set in a fictitious rural village that resembles the villages of eastern Scotland bordering the Highlands between Dundee and Aberdeen where Robertson currently lives. His novels, therefore, feature the Scottish urban and rural landscape as prevalently as Scottish history between the 17th and 20th centuries.
While Robertson's first two novels featured the Scottish past (The Fanatic merged a story of contemporary Scotland in the months surrounding the 1997 election with a story of Scotland in the 17th century, while Joseph Knight was purely historical) he is not a historical novelist, and Gideon Mack was set in Scotland between the 1950s and the present day.
The other side of Robertson's career since circa 2000 has been Itchy Coo, a publisher of children's books in the Scots language
. Initially funded by the Scottish Arts Council
, Itchy Coo has proved to be a popular enterprise. Robertson's interest in and use of Scots is also featured heavily in his poetry and prose, and notably in his first two novels, which blend modern English with Scots.
in the 1980s.
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...
writer who grew up in Bridge of Allan
Bridge of Allan
Bridge of Allan is a town in Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. It was formerly administered by Stirlingshire and Central Regional Council....
, Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling is a registration county of Scotland, based around Stirling, the former county town. It borders Perthshire to the north, Clackmannanshire and West Lothian to the east, Lanarkshire to the south, and Dunbartonshire to the south-west.Until 1975 it was a county...
. He is the author of several short story and poetry collections, and has published three novels: The Fanatic
The Fanatic (novel)
The Fanatic is a novel written by the Scottish author James Robertson, first published in 2000.-Overview:The book progresses along two lines. The first is historical and deals with the events of the Scottish Covenanters of the 17th Century...
, Joseph Knight, The Testament of Gideon Mack
The Testament Of Gideon Mack
The Testament of Gideon Mack is a novel written by the Scottish author James Robertson, first published in 2006. It pays conscious homage to ideas and themes originally explored with powerful effect in the novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by the Scottish novelist,...
, and And the Land Lay Still
And the Land Lay Still
And the Land Lay Still is the fourth novel by Scottish novelist and poet James Robertson. Upon publication in 2010 it was widely praised for its breadth of exploration of Scottish society in the latter half of the 20th century.-Plot summary:...
. The Testament of Gideon Mack was long-listed for the 2006 Man Booker Prize
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
. Robertson also runs an independent publishing company called Kettillonia, and is a founder and general editor with Matthew Fitt
Matthew Fitt
Matthew Fitt is a Lowland Scots/Lallans poet and novelist. He was born in 1968 in Dundee, Scotland. Previously writer-in-residence at Greater Pollok in Glasgow, he is currently National Scots Language Development Officer....
of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo, which produces books in Scots for children and young people.
Early life
Educated at Glenalmond CollegeGlenalmond College
Glenalmond College is a co-educational independent boarding school in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, for children aged between 12 and 18 years. It is situated on the River Almond near the village of Methven, about west of the city of Perth. The school's motto is Floreat Glenalmond...
and Edinburgh University, Robertson attained a PhD in history at Edinburgh on the novels of Walter Scott
Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet was a Scottish historical novelist, playwright, and poet, popular throughout much of the world during his time....
. He also spent an exchange year at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
Robertson worked in a variety of jobs after leaving university, including a member of staff at a wildlife park and the book trade, as a sales rep and assistant manager of the Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
branch of Waterstone's Booksellers.
Literature
Robertson became a full-time author in the early 1990s. During the same period he became the first writer in residence at Hugh MacDiarmid's house outside BiggarBiggar
- Places :* Biggar, Cumbria, England* Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada* Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Scotland- Electoral districts :* Biggar , provincial electoral district since 2002...
, Lanarkshire. Robertson was heavily influenced by MacDiarmid and MacDiarmid's Scots language
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
poetry during this time. Robertson's early short stories and first novel used contemporary and historical life in Edinburgh as a key theme, drawing on the fact he lived there intermittently during his PhD and during the later 1990s before moving to Fife
Fife
Fife is a council area and former county of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries to Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire...
, and subsequently Angus
Angus
Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City...
. Each of his three novels have been influenced to a degree by where he was living when he wrote them. Joseph Knight revolved around a slave from the Caribbean who came to Scotland, but the novel revolves primarily around the cities of Dundee, near where Robertson was then living, and Edinburgh. The Testament of Gideon Mack, meanwhile, is set in a fictitious rural village that resembles the villages of eastern Scotland bordering the Highlands between Dundee and Aberdeen where Robertson currently lives. His novels, therefore, feature the Scottish urban and rural landscape as prevalently as Scottish history between the 17th and 20th centuries.
While Robertson's first two novels featured the Scottish past (The Fanatic merged a story of contemporary Scotland in the months surrounding the 1997 election with a story of Scotland in the 17th century, while Joseph Knight was purely historical) he is not a historical novelist, and Gideon Mack was set in Scotland between the 1950s and the present day.
The other side of Robertson's career since circa 2000 has been Itchy Coo, a publisher of children's books in the Scots language
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
. Initially funded by the Scottish Arts Council
Scottish Arts Council
The Scottish Arts Council is a Scottish public body that distributes funding from the Scottish Government, and is the leading national organisation for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland...
, Itchy Coo has proved to be a popular enterprise. Robertson's interest in and use of Scots is also featured heavily in his poetry and prose, and notably in his first two novels, which blend modern English with Scots.
Personal life
Politically, Robertson was involved in the Scottish Constitutional ConventionScottish Constitutional Convention
The Scottish Constitutional Convention was an association of Scottish political parties, churches and other civic groups, that developed a framework for a Scottish devolution. It is credited as having paved the way for the establishment of the Scottish Parliament in 1999.The Convention was...
in the 1980s.
Novels
- The Fanatic (Fourth Estate, 2000)
- Joseph Knight (Fourth Estate, 2004)
- The Testament of Gideon MackThe Testament Of Gideon MackThe Testament of Gideon Mack is a novel written by the Scottish author James Robertson, first published in 2006. It pays conscious homage to ideas and themes originally explored with powerful effect in the novel The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by the Scottish novelist,...
(Penguin, 2006)
- And the Land Lay StillAnd the Land Lay StillAnd the Land Lay Still is the fourth novel by Scottish novelist and poet James Robertson. Upon publication in 2010 it was widely praised for its breadth of exploration of Scottish society in the latter half of the 20th century.-Plot summary:...
(Hamish Hamilton, 2010)
Poetry
- I Dream of Alfred Hitchcock (Kettillonia Pamphlet)
- Stirling Sonnets (Kettillonia Pamphlet)
- Sound-Shadow (Black and White Publishing)
Children's Books
In Scots unless indicated.- A Scots Parliament (English, Itchy Coo, 2002)
- Eck the Bee: A Scots Word Activity Book (Ann Matheson and James Robertson, Itchy Coo, 2002)
- The Hoose o Haivers (Matthew Fitt, Susan Rennie and James Robertson, Itchy Coo, 2002)
- Tam O'Shanter's Big Night Oot: Wee Plays in Scots (edited by Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2003)
- King o the Midden: Manky Minging Rhymes in Scots (edited by Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2003) (also in a digest formatDigest sizeDigest size is a magazine size, smaller than a conventional or "journal size" magazine but larger than a standard paperback book, approximately 5½ x 8¼ inches, but can also be 5⅜ x 8⅜ inches and 5½ x 7½ inches. These sizes have evolved from the printing press operation end...
, The Wee King o the Midden, Itchy Coo, 2008) - The Smoky Smirr O Rain: A Scots Anthology (edited by Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2003)
- A Moose in the Hoose: A Scots Counting Book (Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2006)
- Katie's Ferm: A Hide & Seek Book for Wee Folk (Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2007)
- Blethertoun Braes: More Manky Minging Rhymes in Scots (edited by Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2007)
- A Wee Book O Fairy Tales in Scots (Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2007)
- Rabbie's Rhymes: Robert Burns for Wee Folk (edited by Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2008)
- Katie's Moose: A Keek-a-boo Book for Wee Folk (Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2008)
- The Sleekit Mr Tod by Roald DahlRoald DahlRoald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
(Scots translation, Itchy Coo, 2008) - Winnie the Pooh by A. A. MilneA. A. MilneAlan Alexander Milne was an English author, best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh and for various children's poems. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work.-Biography:A. A...
(Scots translation, Itchy Coo, 2008) - Katie's Year: Aw the Months for Wee Folk (Robertson and Fitt, Itchy Coo, 2009)
- Precious and the Puggies by Alexander McCall SmithAlexander McCall SmithAlexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE, is a Rhodesian-born Scottish writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. In the late 20th century, McCall Smith became a respected expert on medical law and bioethics and served on British and international committees...
(Scots translation, Itchy Coo, 2010)
Edited Works
- A Tongue in yer Heid (Black and White Publishing)
- The Dictionary of Scottish Quotations (with Angela Cran) (Mainstream Publishing)
Translations
- Fae the Flouers o Evil (Scots trans. Robertson of Baudelaire) (Kettillonia Pamphlet)
- La A'Bhreitheanais or The Day o Judgment (Scots trans. Robertson of Dugald Buchanan) (Kettillonia Pamphlet)
Websites
- scotgeog.com (A website spin-off from the Testament of Gideon Mack, 2006)
External links
- Itchy Coo, educational Scots language publisher for younger readers, founded by Robertson
- Kettillonia, independent publisher run by Robertson
- scotgeog.com, website authored by Robertson