Arts / Isles poet receives grant for Shaetlan book
AN ISLES poet has been selected to receive a grant to support his work in promoting Shaetlan.
Layin Aff by James Sinclair, and edited by Christine De Luca, will be a collection of poems published in Shaetlan.
It is set to be one of seven publications which will receive a Scots Language Publication Grant for its dedication to ensuring that Shaetlan is widely read and celebrated.
The book will feature a QR code inside to access a short film of Shetland, which will feature a number of the poems being read by the author in Shaetlan.
This in turn will lead the reader to the Shetland ForWirds website, where they will be able to discover more about the local dialect.
Now in its eighth year, the Scots Language Publication Grant was created by the Scots Language Resource Network to support publishers and writers.
It is funded by the Scottish Government and administered by Scottish Book Trust, the national charity with an aim to change lives through reading and writing.
Sinclair said the grant had given the whole project a “massive boost”.
“The book has been a year in the making already and now we have the finances to go ahead and do the best job we can on the final product,” he said.
“It has helped me believe in myself and the way I speak, and hopefully it will give enjoyment to all the readers who buy the book or pick it up and leaf through the pages.
“At the end of the day, it is the words that matter.”
The awards come on the back of the introduction of the Scottish Languages Act 2025.
This allows for the introduction of new measures, including powers for ministers to commission research into the use of Scots and Gaelic, and establish teaching standards for the languages.
Scottish Book Trust programme director Philippa Cochraine congratulated Sinclair on his selection for the grant.
“Scots is an important part of Scotland’s literary and spoken history, and this funding ensures we can help keep the language vibrants for generations to come,” she said.
“It’s fantastic to see such diversity in this year’s selected publications, and they span the breadth of Scotland.”
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