The Bloody Scotland Debut Prize celebrates its 5th Anniversary this year. Previous winners include Claire Askew (2019), Deborah Masson (2020), Robbie Morrison (2021), Tariq Ashkanani (2022) and Kate Foster (2023) who has gone on to be longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction 2024 and shortlisted for the CWA New Blood Dagger 2024.
The full shortlist for the 2024 Bloody Scotland Debut Prize is:
Suzy Aspley with Crow Moon (Orenda). Suzy was born in South Shields and grew up in Tyne and Wear but she has lived near Aberfoyle in Stirlingshire for the past two decades. A regular attendee of the festival she won Pitch Perfect in 2019 with the idea that became Crow Moon.
Daniel Aubrey with Dark Island (Harper North). Daniel grew up in Cheshire but now lives in Moffat in Dumfriesshire. He first attended Bloody Scotland in 2022 when his friend, Sarah Smith, was shortlisted for the debut award and his own debut was just going out on submission. He was back in 2023 when his partner, Danielle Devlin, was selected for ‘Crime in the Spotlight’.
Allan Gaw with The Silent House of Sleep (SA Press). A medical pathologist by training Allan was a runner up in the 2023 Glencairn / Bloody Scotland short crime story competition and his story – The Last Tram to Gorbals Cross – went on to be published in Scottish Field magazine in April 2023. WINNER
Doug Sinclair with Blood Runs Deep (Storm Publishing). Born in Edinburgh and now living in Armadale, Doug first visited Bloody Scotland in 2014 to attend the Masterclass. He has attended every year since and credits the encouragement of the friends and authors he’s met at the festival with the reason he finished the book, signed with an agent and secured a three-book deal.
Martin Stewart with Double Proof (Polygon). A former English teacher and middle grade author, Martin supported the festival in 2017 by delivering schools events in Balfron and Stirling. He also made his debut in goals for the Scotland v England football match. He has represented Scotland twice since and is proud that all were Scottish victories. He lives in South Ayrshire.
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Join us for a special Launch Event...
Join us for this special standalone event with the brilliant Val McDermid, who’ll be helping us to launch the 2024 Bloody Scotland programme. Val will be in conversation with Craig Robertson about her dark and bloody latest novel, Queen MacBeth.
Shakespeare fed us the myth of the Macbeths as murderous conspirators. But now Val McDermid drags the truth out of the shadows, exposing the patriarchal prejudices of history. Expect the unexpected. A thousand years ago in an ancient Scottish landscape, a woman is on the run with her three companions – a healer, a weaver and a seer. The men hunting her will kill her – because she is the only one who stands between them and their violent ambition. She is no lady: she is the first queen of Scotland, married to a king called Macbeth. Thursday 20th June at 1.30pm in The Golden Lion Hotel, Stirling. Tickets £6/£5
Thursday 20 June 2024, 13:30
Apply to Volunteer
Bloody Scotland wouldn’t run without the dedication of eager volunteers, keeping the crowds safe, the tech running and the authors guided. Every year we look for Front of House Assistants, Author Hospitality Assistants, Author Signing Assistants and Festival Marketing Assistants to help out our busy team.
2024 applications will open soon.
Support Us
Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s international crime writing festival is an independent, not for profit charity, established in 2011 to present the very best of Scottish and international crime writing. We rely on a combination of sponsorship, grants, box office and donations to support our activity.