Arts / Local pair shortlisted for national awards
TWO creative Shetland talents have been nominated for national awards.
Pianist Amy Laurenson is one of 20 acts on the longlist for this year’s Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) prize.
The 2023 BBC Radio Scotland young traditional musician of the year winner is nominated for her debut album Strands, which was recorded at Mareel in Lerwick.
Glasgow-based Laurenson described being on the longlist as “very surreal”.
Her album Strands “tells a story of my Shetland roots and how this has grown to be intertwined with threads of contemporary influence and ideas”, Laurenson previously said.
“As well as exploring this conversation between traditional and contemporary, the album also explores the fusion of traditional and classical influence.”
The overall winner of the SAY award will be announced on 24 October at a ceremony in Stirling.
Meanwhile local writer Jen Stout has been nominated for Scotland’s National Book Awards 2024.
Her book Night Train to Odesa is included in the longlist for the First Book prize.
It recounts what she experienced while working as a freelance journalist in Ukraine during the country’s conflict with Russia.
The acclaimed book has been serialised on BBC Radio 4.
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