The Association for Scottish Literary Studies (ASLS) is a Scottish educational charity, founded in 1970 to promote and support the teaching, study and writing of Scottish literature. Its founding members included the Scottish literary scholar

Matthew McDiarmid Matthew McDiarmid, full name Matthew Purdie McDiarmid (25 June 1914–12 February 1996) was a Scottish literary scholar, essayist, campaigning academic and poet. He was a founding member of the Association for Scottish Literary Studies (1970) ...

(1914–1996). Originally based at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, it moved to its current home within the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

in 1996. In November 2015, ASLS was allocated £40,000 by the Scottish Government to support its work providing teacher training and classroom resources for schools. ASLS's main field of activity is

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

, and the organisation is a member of

Publishing Scotland Publishing Scotland is a trade association for the publishing industry in Scotland. It was established in 1973 as the Scottish General Publishers Association with the support of the Scottish Arts Council. It was subsequently known as the Scottish ...

Publications

Periodicals

ASLS produces

periodicals A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a Academic journal, journal ...

, including ''Scottish Literary Review'' (formerly ''Scottish Studies Review''), a

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...

ed journal of Scottish literature and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

; ''Scottish Language'', a peer reviewed journal of

Scottish languages The languages of Scotland are the languages spoken or once spoken in Scotland. Each of the numerous languages spoken in Scotland during its recorded linguistic history falls into either the Germanic languages, Germanic or Celtic languages, C ...

and

linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

; ''The International Journal of Scottish Literature'', a free online peer reviewed journal (2006–2013); and ''The Bottle Imp'', a free online ezine (named after the short story by

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 a ...

). Since June 2013, ''Scottish Literary Review'' has been included in

Project MUSE Project MUSE, a non-profit collaboration between libraries and publishers, is an online database of peer-reviewed academic journals and electronic books. Project MUSE contains digital humanities and social science content from over 250 university ...

's Premium Collection of journals.

Books

Annual Volumes

Since 1971 ASLS has republished a number of

out of print __NOTOC__ An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book ...

Scottish texts in their ''Annual Volumes'' series (45 volumes by 2016). 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 Research Book of the Year awards: ''The Poems of William Dunbar'', edited by Priscilla Bawcutt (1998), and Sorley MacLean's ''Dàin do Eimhir'', edited by

Christopher Whyte Christopher Whyte (''Crìsdean MacIlleBhàin'') is a Scottish poet, novelist, translator and critic. He is a novelist in English, a poet in Scottish Gaelic, the translator into English of Marina Tsvetaeva, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Rainer Maria ...

(2002).

International Companions to Scottish Literature

In 2015, ASLS launched the ''International Companions to Scottish Literature'' series, co-edited by

Ian Brown Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963) is an English singer and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the split in 1996, he began a solo career, re ...

and

Thomas Owen Clancy Thomas Owen Clancy is an American academic and historian who specializes in medieval Celtic literature, especially that of Scotland. He did his undergraduate work at New York University, and his Ph.D at the University of Edinburgh. He is currently ...

. Titles in the series to date include ''The International Companion to

Lewis Grassic Gibbon Lewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell (13 February 1901 – 7 February 1935), a Scottish writer. He was best known for ''A Scots Quair'', a trilogy set in the north-east of Scotland in the early 20th century, of which ...

'', ''The International Companion to Edwin Morgan'', ''The International Companion to Scottish Poetry'', ''The International Companion to James Macpherson and The Poems of Ossian'', ''The International Companion to John Galt'', and ''The International Companion to Scottish Literature 1400–1650''.

New Writing Scotland

Since its first issue in 1983, many contemporary Scottish writers have had early work published in ASLS's annual

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

of new short fiction and poetry, ''New Writing Scotland'', including

Leila Aboulela Leila Fuad Aboulela (Arabic:ليلى فؤاد ابوالعلا; born 1964) is a fiction writer, essayist, and playwright of Sudanese origin based in Aberdeen, Scotland. She grew up in Khartoum, Sudan, and moved to Scotland in 1990 where she began ...

Lin Anderson Lin (Linda) Anderson (born in Greenock, Scotland) is a Tartan Noir crime novelist and screenwriter, best known as the creator of forensic scientist Rhona MacLeod. the Rhona MacLeod books are being developed for ITV. Life and career An ...

, Iain Banks,

Polly Clark Polly Clark (born 1968) is a Canadian-born British writer and poet. She is the author of ''Larchfield'' (2017), which fictionalised a youthful period in the life of poet W.H. Auden, and ''Tiger'' (2019) about a last dynasty of wild Siberian tigers. ...

Anne Donovan Anne Theresa Donovan (November 1, 1961 – June 13, 2018) was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun. In her playing career, Donovan won a national championship with Ol ...

Janice Galloway Janice Galloway (born 1955 in Saltcoats, Scotland) is a Scottish 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 w ...

Jane Harris Jane Harris may refer to: * Jane Harris (producer), British television director and producer * Jane Harris (writer) Jane Harris (born 1961) is a British writer of fiction and screenplays. Her novels have been published in over 20 territories wor ...

, Gail Honeyman, Kathleen Jamie,

A L Kennedy Alison Louise Kennedy (born 22 October 1965) is a Scottish writer, academic and stand-up comedian. She writes novels, short stories and non-fiction, and is known for her dark tone and her blending of realism and fantasy. She contributes columns ...

James Meek James Meek FRSE (1742–1810) (or ''Meik'') was Minister of Cambuslang from 1774 until his death. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1795, but is most remembered as the model Enlightenment cleric who wrote ...

, Ian Rankin, James Robertson, Suhayl Saadi,

Ali Smith Ali Smith CBE FRSL (born 24 August 1962) is a Scottish author, playwright, academic and journalist. Sebastian Barry described her in 2016 as "Scotland's Nobel laureate-in-waiting". Early life and education Smith was born in Inverness on 24 Au ...

Chiew-Siah Tei Tei Chiew-Siah () is a Malaysian-born writer who produces works in Chinese and English. Biography Tei was born and raised in Tampin, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia and is a fourth-generation Chinese-Malaysian of Hokkien descent. She published he ...

, Irvine Welsh, and others. ''New Writing Scotland'' is part-funded by

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The o ...

Occasional Papers

The ASLS ''Occasional Papers'' series publishes essays and monographs on Scottish literary and linguistic topics, often based on papers presented at ASLS

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main pu ...

. The most recent edition in this series, number 23, is entitled ''Land of Story-Books: Scottish Children's Literature in the

Long Nineteenth Century The ''long nineteenth century'' is a term for the 125-year period beginning with the onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and ending with the outbreak of World War I in 1914. It was coined by Russian writer Ilya Ehrenburg and British Marxist his ...

''.

Scotnotes

ASLS publishes the ''Scotnotes'' series of

study 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. General topics include study and testing strategies; reading, wr ...

s to Scottish writers and their literary works. There are currently thirty-nine titles in this series, on authors ranging from late medieval poets such as William Dunbar and Robert Henryson to contemporary writers such as Iain Banks, Liz Lochhead and Ian Rankin.

Other titles

In May 2010, in partnership with the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park, ASLS published an illustrated edition of Sir Walter Scott's narrative poem ''

The Lady of the Lake The Lady of the Lake (french: Dame du Lac, Demoiselle du Lac, cy, Arglwyddes y Llyn, kw, Arloedhes an Lynn, br, Itron al Lenn, it, Dama del Lago) is a name or a title used by several either fairy or fairy-like but human enchantresses in the ...

'', to mark the 200th anniversary of the original publication. In June 2011, with financial support from the

Gaelic Books Council Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

, ASLS published a new edition of Sorley MacLean's ''An Cuilithionn/The Cuillin''. In February 2013, ASLS hosted the inaugural Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship, set up by Creative Scotland "to enable a writer to take time out of their usual environment to embark upon a year-long literary adventure to develop their practice". Kirsty Logan was selected to be the first recipient of the Fellowship, and on 10 August 2015 ASLS published her collection of short stories ''A Portable Shelter''.

Exhibitions

Since 2004, ASLS has mounted the Scottish Writing Exhibition at the

Modern Language Association of America The Modern Language Association of America, often referred to as the Modern Language Association (MLA), is widely considered the principal professional association in the United States for scholars of language and literature. The MLA aims to "st ...

's annual conventions in the United States, most recently in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

in January 2019. In August 2008 the Scottish Writing Exhibition was on display at the biannual European Society for the Study of English (ESSE) conference in

Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of 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 Daiches (1979–1984) *Tom Crawford (1984–1989) * Maurice Lindsay (1989–1993) *John Blackburn (1993–1994) *David Robb (1994–1998) * Dorothy McMillan (1998–2002) *Alan MacGillivray (2002–2006) *

Alan Riach Alan Scott Riach (born 1 August 1957)Smith, Anna'Riach, Alan (Scott)' ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved 16 April 2022. is a Scottish poet and academic. He was born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, and was educated at Gravesend Grammar School for Boys, C ...

(2006–2010) *Ian Brown (2010–2015) *Alison Lumsden (2015–2019) *David Goldie (2019–)

Awards

To date, two ASLS Annual Volumes have won Saltire Society Research Book of the Year awards: ''The Poems of William Dunbar'', edited by Priscilla Bawcutt (1998); and Sorley MacLean's ''Dàin do Eimhir'', edited by

(2002). In 2011, the ASLS's edition of Sorley MacLean's ''An Cuilithionn/The Cuillin'', edited by Christopher Whyte, was shortlisted for the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year award. Also in 2011, along with

VisitScotland VisitScotland, formerly the Scottish Tourist Board, is a national tourism organisation for Scotland. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government, with offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Inverness, and other ...

and the University of Glasgow, the ASLS co-produced ''Literary Scotland: A Traveller's Guide''. In October 2011, this publication won the Chartered Institute of Public Relations Scotland Gold Award for Best Publication. In 2021, the ASLS Annual Volume ''Dràma na Gàidhlig: Ceud Bliadhna air an Àrd-ùrlar / A Century of Gaelic Drama'', edited by Michelle Macleod, won the

Donald Meek Award for Best Non-Fiction.

References

External links

Association for Scottish Literary Studies
*
Scottish Writing Exhibition

''The International Journal of Scottish Literature''

''The Bottle Imp'' ezine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Association For Scottish Literary Studies Scottish studies Scottish literature Languages of Scotland Charities based in Scotland Organisations based in Glasgow University of Glasgow University of Aberdeen Publishing companies of Scotland Book publishing companies of Scotland Text publication societies 1970 establishments in Scotland Arts organizations established in 1970