Bloody Scotland

Scottish international crime writing festival

Bloody Scotland
Genre	Scottish international crime writing festival
Begins	2012
Frequency	Annually
Venue	Stirling
Country	Scotland
Most recent	15-17 September 2023
Website	bloodyscotland.com

Bloody Scotland is a Scottish international crime writing festival, held annually in Stirling, Scotland. It was founded in 2012 by Tartan Noir writers Lin Anderson and Alex Gray and describes itself as "the literary festival where you can let down your hair and enjoy a drink at the bar with your favourite crime writer".^[1] Its sponsors include the University of Stirling and Stirling Council.^[2]^[3]^[4] In 2022 most events were held at the Albert Halls or the Tolbooth.^[5]

The festival awards The McIlvanney Prize for "the best Scottish Crime book of the year" (so named in 2016 for writer William McIlvanney (1936-2015), who has been called "the Godfather of Tartan Noir"),^[6] and, since 2019, the Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year.^[7]

McIlvanney Prize winners

2012: Charles Cumming, A Foreign Country
2013: Malcolm Mackay, How a Gunman Says Goodbye
2014: Peter May, Entry Island
2015: Craig Russell, The Ghosts of Altona
2016: Chris Brookmyre, Black Widow
2017: Denise Mina, The Long Drop
2018: Liam McIlvanney (son of William McIlvanney),The Quaker
2019: Manda Scott, A Treachery of Spies (the winner chose to share the prize with the other shortlisted authors: Doug Johnstone, Denise Mina and Ambrose Parry)
2020: Francine Toon, Pine
2021: Craig Russell, Hyde
2022: Alan Parks, May God Forgive^[8]
2023: Callum McSorley, Squeaky Clean^[9]^[10]

Scottish Crime Debut of the Year winners

2019: Claire Askew, All the Hidden Truths
2020: Deborah Masson, Hold Your Tongue
2021: Robbie Morrison, Edge of the Grave
2022: Tariq Ashkanani, Welcome to Cooper^[8]
2023: Kate Foster, The Maiden^[11]^[10]

References

^ "About Bloody Scotland". Bloody Scotland. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
^ "Stirling shines as it stages the biggest ever Bloody Scotland festival". Stirling Council. 27 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "Bloody Scotland festival to go ahead as hybrid event". The Bookseller. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "Bloody Scotland". Publishing Scotland. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "2022 Brochure". Bloody Scotland. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
^ "The McIlvanney Prize". Bloody Scotland. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ "Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year". Bloody Scotland. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
^ ^a ^b Brown, Lauren (16 September 2022). "Winners of the Bloody Scotland Debut Prize and the McIlvanney Prize revealed". The Bookseller. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
^ "The McIlvanney Prize: 2023 Winner". Bloody Scotland. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
^ ^a ^b Forbes, Ellie (18 September 2023). "Winners of the Bloody Scotland Debut of the Year and McIlvanney Prize announced". Scottish Field. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
^ "Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut of the Year: 2023 Winner". Bloody Scotland. Archived from the original on 31 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.