2019 judges

Amy Liptrot has published her work with various magazines, journals and blogs and she has written a regular column for Caught by the River, out of which her first book The Outrun emerged. As well as writing for major newspapers including the Guardian and the Observer, Amy has worked as an artist’s model, a trampolinist and in a shellfish factory. The Outrun was awarded the 2016 Wainwright Prize and the 2017 PEN Ackerley Prize and was shortlisted for the 2016 Wellcome Prize and the 2017 Ondaatje Prize.

Chitra Ramaswamy is an award-winning journalist and author. Her first book, Expecting: The Inner Life of Pregnancy, was published by Saraband in 2016. It won the Saltire First Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Polari Prize. She contributed an essay to Nasty Women, The Freedom Papers and Message From The Skies, writes mainly for the Guardian, is a columnist for Holyrood Magazine and the National Trust for Scotland magazine, and broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio Scotland. She lives in Edinburgh with her partner, two young children and rescue dog.

Jenny Brown established Jenny Brown Associates in 2002, the Scottish-based literary agency which specialises in narrative non-fiction, literary fiction, crime writing and writing for children. Clients include Jim Crumley, Gavin Francis, Kathleen Jamie, Sara Maitland, Chitra Ramaswamy, Malachy Tallack and Esther Woolfson. Jenny was previously Head of Literature at the Scottish Arts Council, presenter of book programmes for Scottish Television, and founder Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival (of which she is now a Board member). She is Chair of the Bloody Scotland crime writing festival and a former committee member of the Association of Authors’ Agents.

Nick Barley has been director of theEdinburgh International Book Festival since October 2009. Innovations during his directorship include Unbound, a free evening mini-festival of literary performances; the 2012 Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference which took place in 17 cities worldwide; and a Fringe First-winning promenade theatre production, Letters Home, co-produced with Grid Iron Theatre Company in 2014. Nick Barley was chair of the judging panel for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize and is President of the Word Alliance – an international network of the world’s leading literary festivals. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2018.