The new episode of the podcast @thecarryingstream.bsky.social, hosted by IASSL member @paulmalgrati.bsky.social @insuhi.bsky.social, interviews poet and scholar Robert Crawford. Available on all podcast platforms.
New publications by IASSL members: the essay ‘Scottish by Formation’: Michel Faber’s Under the Skin and National Ambiguities' by @rodgeglass.bsky.social has bee published in the latest issue of Studies in Scottish Literature 51:2 @edinburghup.bsky.social.
The companion features contributions by IASSL members @scottlyall.bsky.social, Joe Jackson, Carla Sassi, Alan Riach, Arianna Introna @dashflint.bsky.social, Hongling Lyu, @rodgeglass.bsky.social, and Duncan Petrie.
The new 'Edinburgh Companion to Alasdair Gray and the Arts' @edinburghup.bsky.social, edited by Marie Hedon, Camille Manfredi, and Kirsten Stirling, is now available for pre-order!
The latest issue of Études écossaises (25 | 2026), entitled 'Scottish Territories and Memories', is available in open access. It features contributions by IASSL members Kristel van Soeren, Monika Kocot, Julie Gay and Camille Manfredi. journals.openedition.org/etudesecossa...
In a week's time (Monday 20 April 2026, 5 pm UK time), join us for the next webinar in the Environmental Scotland series, featuring talks by Garry MacKenzie and Coinneach Maclean. All welcome! scotlit-iassl.org/2026/01/15/e...
IASSL welcomes new members from all around the world. If you research Scottish literature in any language (English, Gaelic, Latin, Scots), whether at a university, as an independent scholar, or as a PhD student, we'd love to have you on board!
Congratulations to IASSL member Rob Sutton who has just defended his PhD thesis on '"Cultural Jacobitism" in the Writing of Anne Grant (1755-1838)' at @ljmuofficial.bsky.social. The dissertation is available in open access: researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28...
Upcoming events with IASSL members: this year's annual John Galt Lecture will be delivered by Robert Irvine @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social on 1 May 2026 at the Wellwood Burns Centre & Museum on 'John Galt and Scotland's Forgotten Revolution.'
Coinneach Maclean is from South Uist. He has successfully defended a doctoral thesis entitled ‘The Tourist Gaze on Gaelic Scotland’ and authored 'Travels in Another Country: A Guide to Gaelic Scotland' and 'An t-Eilean Skye Places and People', both published by @acairbooks.bsky.social in 2025.
Garry MacKenzie is a poet and non-fiction writer based in Fife. His book-length poem 'Ben Dorain: a conversation with a mountain' (2021) is published by @irishpages.bsky.social. His non-fiction book 'Scotland: a Literary Guide for Travellers' was published by I.B. Tauris in 2016.
Next IASSL webinar in the 'Environmental Scotland' series is coming up on Monday 20 April 2026 at 5 pm (UK time) on Zoom. The event will feature two talks, by Garry MacKenzie and Coinneach Maclean, and will be followed by a discussion. Free to attend, all welcome! 🏴 🌿 tinyurl.com/ca9bs4nt
The IASSL PhD Award is aimed at outstanding PhD dissertations on Scottish literature submitted outside of the UK (written in English or other languages). The first round is open for submissions! 🏆🎓 scotlit-iassl.org/awards/iassl...
New publications by IASSL members: David Manderson's essay ‘Promiscuous Sympathies: Alan Sharp and Robert Burns' has been published in The Burns Chronicle @edinburghup.bsky.social. It examines Sharp's screenplay 'Burns,' written between 2001–2010. tinyurl.com/383v37tz
The 2026 @mcgill.ca Chair in Canadian-Scottish Studies Colloquium will take place on 10 April 2026. The keynote address will be delivered by Rob Dunbar, @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social & Chair of @bordnagaidhlig.bsky.social. The event is going to be livestreamed: tinyurl.com/3x8c6ry5 🏴 🇨🇦
Call for Papers: 'Politics, Place and Print Culture: The 14th International Walter Scott Conference', @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social, 28-30 June 2027, organised by @mckeever.bsky.social & team. Deadline for proposals: 1 October 2026. Details of financial support for PGRs to follow. tinyurl.com/yt2vj4x7
Research & impact by IASSL members: the plans to restore Ellisland farm, the only home designed and built by Robert Burns, are underpinned by research carried out at Barnbougle Castle in East Lothian by Gerry Carruthers @glasgow.ac.uk who is also a trustee of Robert Burns Ellisland Museum and Farm.
New publications by IASSL members: the article 'Adventures in Mind and Landscape: Poetics of Emptiness in Gary Snyder and Kenneth White' by Monika Kocot (University of Lodz) has been published in the Polish Journal for American Studies 19 (2025). Available in open access: tinyurl.com/evw6jmsd
New projects of IASSL members: @ainsley76.bsky.social (@uniofaberdeen.bsky.social) has been awarded funding from the @royalsoced.bsky.social to support the second stage of her project on Walter Scott’s Lighthouse Yacht Journal (1814), with heritage partners at Abbotsford and the @nlb-uk.bsky.social.
@uniofstandrews.bsky.social is currently looking to hire a new permanent lecturer in Scottish Literature with specialism anywhere within the period c. 1760-present. Closing Date: 16 April 2026 | Interview Date: 7 May 2026. www.vacancies.st-andrews.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...
New publications by IASSL members: the monograph 'The Matter of Genre: Ian Rankin and the Tartan Noir Novel' by @agnieszkasch.bsky.social (University of Gdansk) has been published by Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu w Siedlcach. tinyurl.com/4bekfkd2 🏴 🇵🇱 Congratulations!
Looking at the different modes of life-writing concerning historic and contemporary experiences of care in Scotland, the project brings Jessie Kesson and Dorothy K. Haynes into focus with more recent works by Jackie Kay and Jenni Fagan.
New projects of IASSL members: Craig Lamont @glasgow.ac.uk has been awarded an AHRC Curiosity Award for his project on memory and care experience in Scottish life-writing. The project is supported by partners across Scotland: @aberlourcharity.bsky.social, @celcis.org, @scottishbooktrust.bsky.social.
The conference ‘Flux and Flow in Irish and Scottish Literatures’, organised by @juliegay.bsky.social & Lea Sinoimeri, will take place on 9-10 April in Boulogne-sur-Mer, with keynotes by @monikaszuba.bsky.social, Tim Brannigan, and Ian Stephen. 🇫🇷 🏴 🇮🇪 Full programme: fluxandflow.univ-littoral.fr
@glendanorquay.bsky.social offers a fresh portrait of RLS: frail Edinburgh child turned globe-trotting author of Treasure Island, Kidnapped and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and charts his literary range – from fiction and poetry to essays and letters – crafted across three continents.
New publications by IASSL members: Glenda Norquay has published a biography of Stevenson with @reaktionbooks.bsky.social. The book explores his role as a literary innovator and cultural commentator, revealing how his work engaged with the anxieties of a rapidly changing world. tinyurl.com/4s93px3a
New projects of IASSL members: @eleanorbell.bsky.social @unistrathclyde.bsky.social has secured an AHRC Catalyst grant. The project ‘Beyond The Dear Green Place: Recovering the Lost Works and Literary Networks of Archie Hind’ will run in 2026-28. Congratulations! Read more: tinyurl.com/2yns355a
Sarah Sharp @abdnriiss.bsky.social @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social received the Honourable Mention for the article ‘The Settler Colonial Cotter: Situating “The Cotter’s Saturday Night” in Post-Revolutionary America,’ published in the Burns Chronicle @edinburghup.bsky.social. tinyurl.com/255n2rm6
Kang-Yen Chiu received the 2025 Jack Medal for his chapter 'Translation and Film Adaptation of Ivanhoe in the Modern History of Taiwan,’ published in 'Scotland and China: Literary Encounters' (@scroll-scotlit.bsky.social, @degruyterbrill.bsky.social, 2025). Read the statement: tinyurl.com/255n2rm6
Kang-yen Chiu (National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan) is the recipient of the 2025 Jack Medal. Sarah Sharp (@abdnriiss.bsky.social @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social) was awarded the Honourable Mention. Congratulations! 🏵️ Find out more about the awardees: tinyurl.com/255n2rm6