James Robertson (born 1958) is a Scottish writer who is the author of several novels, short stories and poetry collections. Robertson was born in

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

, England but grew up in

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan (, ), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a former spa town in the Stirling (council area), Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on th ...

Stirlingshire Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling ( ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.Registers of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. It borders Perthshir ...

. He has published seven novels: '' The Fanatic'', '' Joseph Knight'', '' The Testament of Gideon Mack'', '' And the Land Lay Still'', ''The Professor of Truth'', and ''To Be Continued…'' and ''News of the Dead. The Testament of Gideon Mack'' was long-listed for the 2006

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

. Robertson also runs an independent publishing company called Kettillonia, and is a co-founder (with Matthew Fitt and Susan Rennie) and general editor of the Scots language imprint Itchy Coo (produced by Black & White Publishing), which produces books in Scots for children and young people.

Early life

Robertson was born in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

in 1958. At 6 years old, he moved with his family to Bridge of Allan in Scotland after his father took a job at a brickmaking company. Educated at

Glenalmond 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. T ...

and

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the town council under the authority of a royal charter from King James VI in 1582 and offi ...

, Robertson attained a PhD in history at Edinburgh on the novels of

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...

. He also spent an exchange year at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

in Philadelphia. Robertson worked in a variety of jobs after leaving university, mainly in the book trade. He was a publisher's sales rep and later worked for Waterstone's Booksellers, first as a bookseller in Edinburgh and later as assistant manager of the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

branch.

Literature

Robertson became a full-time author in the early 1990s. From 1993 to 1995 he was the first writer in residence at Brownsbank, the former home of the poet

Hugh MacDiarmid Christopher Murray Grieve (11 August 1892 – 9 September 1978), best known by his pen name Hugh MacDiarmid ( , ), was a Scottish poet, journalist, essayist and political figure. He is considered one of the principal forces behind the Scottish ...

near Biggar, now run by the

Biggar Museum Trust Biggar Museum Trust (BMT) is an independent charity based in and around the town of Biggar in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The late Brian Lambie began a remarkable collection of artefacts from the area over some 40 years, and with a number of ...

. Robertson had already been heavily influenced by MacDiarmid and MacDiarmid's Scots language poetry prior to this appointment. His early short stories and first novel used contemporary and historical life in Edinburgh as a key theme, drawing on his experience of living there intermittently while working on his PhD and during the later 1990s before moving to

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, and subsequently

Angus Angus may refer to: *Angus, Scotland, a council area of Scotland, and formerly a province, sheriffdom, county and district of Scotland * Angus, Canada, a community in Essa, Ontario Animals * Angus cattle, various breeds of beef cattle Media * ...

. Each of his three novels has been influenced to a degree by where he was living when he wrote them. ''Joseph Knight'' is based on the true story of a slave brought from the Caribbean to Scotland, and 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 fictional 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 of 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 general 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. In November 2004 Robertson was the first, and to date, only writer-in-residence at the newly opened

Scottish Parliament building The Scottish Parliament Building (; ) is the home of the Scottish Parliament at Holyrood, Edinburgh, Holyrood, within the World Heritage Site, UNESCO World Heritage Site in central Edinburgh. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 ...

. The appointment was for three days only and was negotiated by the

Scottish Book Trust Scottish Book Trust is a national charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland promoting literature, reading and writing in Scotland. Scottish Book Trust works with and for a range of audiences, including babies and parents (through the Bookbug programm ...

and the Parliament. On each day Robertson delivered a 'masterclass' on different aspects of the relationship between Scottish literature and politics. These later became three essays which were published, along with eleven sonnets reflecting his experience of the new building, in ''Voyage of Intent: Sonnets and Essays from the Scottish Parliament'' (Luath/Scottish Book Trust, 2005). Since about 2000 Robertson has been involved with Itchy Coo, a publisher of children's books in the Scots language. Initially funded by the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

, Itchy Coo has proved to be a popular enterprise. Robertson's interest in and use of Scots also features heavily in his poetry and prose, and notably in his first two novels, which blend modern English with Scots. ''Katie’s Moose'' won the early years category in the Royal Mail Awards for Scottish Children's Books 2007. In 2010 he became the first writer-in-residence at

Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University () is a public university in Edinburgh, Scotland. Napier Technical College, the predecessor of the university, was founded in 1964, taking its name from 16th-century Scottish mathematician and philosopher John Napie ...

. In 2011 Robertson contributed a short story "The Quaking of the Aspen" to an anthology in support of the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

. The anthology, ''Why Willows Weep'', has so far helped The Woodland Trust plant approximately 50,000 trees, and is to be re-released in paperback format in 2016. In 2014, Robertson published ''365 Stories'', a collection of stories that are each 365 words in length, written over the course of a year.

Personal life

Robertson has a wife, Marianne. In 2010, Robertson was reported as living in

Newtyle Newtyle is a village in the west of Angus, Scotland. It lies north of Dundee in the southwest of Strathmore, between Hatton Hill and Newtyle ( Heather Hill) in the Sidlaws. The village sits on gently sloping ground with a northwest aspect. Th ...

, a village that is approximately 10 miles north of Dundee. Together, with his wife, they were living in a converted villa that was once a branch of the

Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...

. He has stated that the Complete Poems of

changed his life. He has also cited

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

, Walter Scott,

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

Don DeLillo Donald Richard DeLillo (born November 20, 1936) is an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, screenwriter, and essayist. His works have covered subjects as diverse as consumerism, nuclear war, the complexities of language, art, televi ...

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...

, Flann O’Brien and Flannery O’Connor as important literary influences.

Awards and recognition

His novel ''The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the 2006

''. Robertson was awarded an honorary degree by

The Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

at the degree ceremony in the

Usher Hall The Usher Hall (Scottish Gaelic: ''Talla Usher'') is a concert hall in the West End of Edinburgh, Scotland. The hall is owned and managed by the City of Edinburgh Council, and has hosted concerts and events since its construction in 1914. Th ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

on 21 June 2014. In October 2020, he won the Janet Paisley Services to Scots Award in the Scots Language Awards. In 2022 he won the

Walter Scott Prize The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction is a British literary award founded in 2010.Walter S ...

for ''News of the Dead.''

Publications

Novels

*'' The Fanatic'' (Fourth Estate, 2000) *'' Joseph Knight'' (Fourth Estate, 2003) *'' The Testament of Gideon Mack'' (Hamish Hamilton, 2006) * '' And the Land Lay Still'' (Hamish Hamilton, 2010) *''The Professor of Truth'' (Hamish Hamilton, 2013) *''To Be Continued…'' (Hamish Hamilton, 2016) *''News of the Dead'' (Hamish Hamilton, 2021)

Non-Fiction

*''Michael Marra: Arrest This Moment'' (Big Sky Press, 2017)

Short stories

*''Close'' (Black and White Publishing, 1991) *''The Ragged Man's Complaint'' (Black and White Publishing, 1993) *''Republics of the Mind'' (Black and White Publishing, 2012) *''365: Stories'' (Hamish Hamilton, 2014) *''The Mannie and Ither Stories'' (Association for Scottish Literary Studies, 2019)

Poetry

*''Sound-Shadow'' (Black and White Publishing, 1995) *''I Dream of Alfred Hitchcock'' (Kettillonia pamphlet, 1999) *''Stirling Sonnets'' (Kettillonia pamphlet, 2001) *''Voyage of Intent: Sonnets and Essays from the Scottish Parliament'' (Scottish Book Trust and Luath Press, 2005) *''Hem and Heid'' (Kettillonia pamphlet, 2009) *''When the Ile Rins Oot'' (Kettillonia pamphlet, 2014)

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 format, ''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 Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

(Scots translation, Itchy Coo, 2008) *''

Winnie the Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh (also known as Edward Bear, Pooh Bear or simply Pooh) is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. Winnie-the-Pooh first appeared by ...

'' by

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winnie-th ...

(Scots translation, Itchy Coo, 2008) *''Katie's Year: Aw the Months for Wee Folk'' (Itchy Coo, 2009) *'' Precious and the Puggies'' by

Alexander McCall Smith Sir Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith (born 24 August 1948) is a Scottish legal scholar and author of fiction. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and was formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an ...

(Scots translation, Itchy Coo, 2010) *''The Hoose at Pooh's Neuk'' by A.A. Milne (Scots translation, Itchy Coo, 2010) *''Katie's Zoo: A Day Oot for Wee Folk'' (Itchy Coo, 2010) *''The Gruffalo in Scots'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2012) *''The Gruffalo's Wean'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2013) *''Room on the Broom in Scots'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2014) *''Whit the Clockleddy Heard'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2015) *''The Reiver Rat'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2015) *''The Troll and the Kist o Gowd'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2016) *''Paddington in Scots'' by Michael Bond (Itchy Coo, 2020) *''Giraffes Cannae Dance'' by Giles Andreae (Itchy Coo, 2021) *''Stick Mannie'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2022) *''The Smeds and the Smoos in Scots'' by Julia Donaldson (Itchy Coo, 2023)

Edited works

*''My Schools and Schoolmasters'' by Hugh Miller (Black and White Publishing, 1993) *''Scenes and Legends of the North of Scotland'' by Hugh Miller (Black and White Publishing, 1994) *''A Tongue in yer Heid'' (Black and White Publishing, 1994) *''Dictionary of Scottish Quotations'' (with Angela Cran) (Mainstream Publishing, 1996) *''Selected Poems of Robert Fergusson'' (Birlinn, 2000)

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)

Essays

Story behind The Professor of Truth
(Online Essay, 2013)

References

External links

Itchy Coo
educational Scots language publisher for younger readers, co-founded by Robertson
Kettillonia
independent publisher run by Robertson
scotgeog.com
website authored by Robertson {{DEFAULTSORT:Robertson, James 1958 births Living people Scottish novelists People from Bridge of Allan Scottish poets Scots-language poets Scots-language writers Scots language activists People educated at Glenalmond College Alumni of the University of Edinburgh