Latest news with #KatieGrant
BBC News
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Andrew Miller wins Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction
Author Andrew Miller has won the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction after being shortlisted twice for the award in the was announced as the winner at the Borders Book Festival in Melrose, taking the £25,000 work, The Land In Winter, only just fell into the contest's definition of a historical novel being one which is set at least 60 years tells the story of a remote English community during a long, hard winter between 1962 and 1963. Founded in 2009, the prize is open to novels published in the previous year in the UK, Ireland or the its past winners are Sebastian Barry, Robert Harris, Andrea Levy and Hilary Mantel. This year's winning author saw off a shortlist of The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, The Mare by Angharad Hampshire, The Book of Days by Francesca Kay, Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon and The Safekeep by Yael van der was presented with his prize by Matthew Maxwell Scott, the great-great-great-great grandson of Sir Walter. The panel of judges, chaired by writer Katie Grant, said: "A true master craftsman, Andrew Miller has painted big themes on a subtle canvas of tiny detail."With rare and delicate skill, The Land in Winter opens up the lives of Bill and Rita, Eric and Irene in ways that will sing differently to each reader, and sing differently again on each re-reading."With prose as softly dazzling as the snow of the 1962/63 winter in which the novel is set, Andrew Miller takes his richly-deserved place amongst the Walter Scott Prize pantheon of great contemporary writers."The Bristol-born writer said the characters in his novel "came walking slowly out of a blizzard". "I leaned quite heavily into the early married lives of my parents, and some of the people they knew, all of whom are long dead now," he said."One of the few advantages of getting older is that your own past becomes material for an historical novel."The Walter Scott Prize is one of the UK's major literary with Ms Grant this year's judging panel included art historian James Holloway, children's author Elizabeth Laird, broadcaster James Naughtie, writer and filmmaker Saira Shah, previous Young Walter Scott Prize winner Rosi Byard-Jones, and award-winning bookseller Rosamund de la Hey.
Scotsman
02-06-2025
- Science
- Scotsman
Scottish Pupil designs Bench Bed to help the homeless
Libby, from Cockenzie Primary School in East Lothian, submitted her engineering idea to Primary Engineer's annual UK STEM competition which asks pupils aged 3 –19 the question 'If you were an engineer, what would you do?'. Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... She was recognised as one of the winners in her year group at the Scotland South East award ceremony, one of 25 regional UK events, in 2024. Her creation is a bench by day but can become a bed by night, folding down to become a bed with walls surrounding it making it a warm environment for homeless people to sleep in. The design has been praised for its social impact, practicality, and real-world potential. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Each year Industry and University partners of Primary Engineer choose a pupil's idea to build into a Prototype and to be revealed a year later at the regional awards ceremony. Libby's proud family The University of Edinburgh, School of Engineering selected Libby's idea to bring to life during the 2024-2025 academic year because it was brilliant to see a young person caring for those in a less fortunate position than themselves, putting in time and effort to think of how to improve their situation by giving them a safe, warm, and dry place to sleep. It was particularly heartening to see that the pupil was thinking of more than just her community, stating 'there are millions of homeless people all around the world'. Dr Katie Grant, Widening Participation and Outreach Manager at the university said 'We were blown away by Libby's compassion for others and her brilliant engineering design. The whole ProtoTeam has really enjoyed working with Libby over the last year. The competition has given her a great opportunity to learn more about the different aspects of what it is like to be an engineer and we are thrilled that she is even considering engineering as a future career path!' The team of technicians at The University worked closely with Libby, invited her to the university and involved her in the design process. Libby said 'I really enjoyed being involved in Primary Engineer. It has been an amazing experience for me, getting to go to the university and take part in making my bench. Everyone on the team is super friendly and I loved working with them. I really felt like I was part of the team. I loved getting to see the final product and how far it's come! Thank you!' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The finished prototype was officially unveiled on 28th May 2025 at the Scotland South East regional award ceremony hosted at The University of Edinburgh. Libby's family attended the event said they were 'very proud' of her. Kelly, Libby's mum, commented to say 'Being involved in Primary Engineer has been such good experience. It has been lovely to see Libby grow in confidence, speaking to the team and other agencies. It was great being part of the ceremony, seeing all the other children's ideas and seeing the final bench". Libby's idea 'If you were an Engineer, what would you do' is an annual, national competition free to enter for all 3-19 school pupils. Entries are open now for 2025-2026 and schools can register now at
Scotsman
02-06-2025
- Science
- Scotsman
Scottish pupil designs bench bed to help the homeless
Libby, from Cockenzie Primary School in East Lothian, submitted her engineering idea to Primary Engineer's annual UK STEM competition which asks pupils aged 3 –19 the question 'If you were an engineer, what would you do?'. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... She was recognised as one of the winners in her year group at the Scotland South East award ceremony, one of 25 regional UK events, in 2024. Her creation is a bench by day but can become a bed by night, folding down to become a bed with walls surrounding it making it a warm environment for homeless people to sleep in. The design has been praised for its social impact, practicality, and real-world potential. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Each year Industry and University partners of Primary Engineer choose a pupil's idea to build into a Prototype and to be revealed a year later at the regional awards ceremony. Libby's idea The University of Edinburgh, School of Engineering selected Libby's idea to bring to life during the 2024-2025 academic year because it was brilliant to see a young person caring for those in a less fortunate position than themselves, putting in time and effort to think of how to improve their situation by giving them a safe, warm, and dry place to sleep. It was particularly heartening to see that the pupil was thinking of more than just her community, stating 'there are millions of homeless people all around the world'. Dr Katie Grant, Widening Participation and Outreach Manager at the university said 'We were blown away by Libby's compassion for others and her brilliant engineering design. The whole ProtoTeam has really enjoyed working with Libby over the last year. The competition has given her a great opportunity to learn more about the different aspects of what it is like to be an engineer and we are thrilled that she is even considering engineering as a future career path!'. The team of technicians at The University worked closely with Libby, invited her to the university and involved her in the design process. Libby said 'I really enjoyed being involved in Primary Engineer. It has been an amazing experience for me, getting to go to the university and take part in making my bench. Everyone on the team is super friendly and I loved working with them. I really felt like I was part of the team. I loved getting to see the final product and how far it's come! Thank you!' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The finished prototype was officially unveiled on 28th May 2025 at the Scotland South East regional award ceremony hosted at The University of Edinburgh. Libby's family attended the event said they were 'very proud' of her. Kelly, Libby's mum, commented to say 'Being involved in Primary Engineer has been such good experience. It has been lovely to see Libby grow in confidence, speaking to the team and other agencies. It was great being part of the ceremony, seeing all the other children's ideas and seeing the final bench". Libby's proud family 'If you were an Engineer, what would you do' is an annual, national competition free to enter for all 3-19 school pupils. Entries are open now for 2025-2026 and schools can register now at Primary Engineer Public Exhibitions and Award Ceremonies continue all over the UK through to July, with a total of 18 prototypes being unveiled. Read more about the prototypes:
