Creative Scotland, the national body for the arts, screen and creative industries, is delighted to announce that this year’s Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year category winning titles are now available to blind and partially sited people.

All four category winning titles have been converted into Daisy and large print formats and are now available to blind and partially sited people including over 40,000 members of RNIB Scotland.

The four books are now competing to become the 2011 Book of the Year, which carries a total cash prize of £30,000 – Scotland’s largest literary prize.

For the first time in the history of the Awards, readers and book lovers from across the country have a role in choosing the Scottish Book of the Year in a public vote that ends on 31 July 2011.

The four shortlisted authors are:

• Fiction: Leila Aboulela, Lyrics Alley (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

• Non-Fiction: Jackie Kay, Red Dust Road (Picador)

• Poetry: Stewart Conn, The Breakfast Room (Bloodaxe)

• First Book: Sue Peebles, The Death of Lomond Friel (Vintage)

Dr Gavin Wallace, portfolio manager for Literature, Publishing and Language at Creative Scotland, said:

‘We are delighted to have been able to work with the RNIB to make the titles available in daisy and large print format. We want to encourage the public to get involved in the discussion about the four best Scottish books of the year, and having them available to the blind and partially sited allows us to reach even bigger audiences. Remember, voting closes on 26 July, so cast your vote now if

RNIB Scotland director John Legg said:

‘We are delighted that these four titles will be available in Daisy and large-print formats to people who are blind and partially sighted. Only five per cent of published books ever make it into alternative formats and we’d like to see many more books made accessible. That these four award-winning titles are is wonderful news.’

The winner will be announced by Dame Jenni Murray, best-known as a presenter on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, on Friday 26 August at the Edinburgh International Book Festival at its Charlotte Square home.

To cast your vote, simply go on line to www.scottishbookawards.com. Voting cards will also be appearing in every Scottish library and branches of Waterstone’s booksellers across Scotland over the coming months, although votes are welcome from anywhere in the world. The winner will be decided using a combination of the judges’ scores and the public vote.

Source: Creative Scotland