Literary publisher Canongate has announced The Future 40, a list of 40 Scottish storytellers it believes will dominate the next 40 years of creative life in the country.
The independent publisher teamed up with The Skinny magazine to create The Future 40, celebrating the company’s own 40th birthday.
Creative organisations and individuals from across Scotland were invited to submit their suggestions, including the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the Glasgow College of Contemporary Art, theatre company Grid Iron, authors Alasdair Gray, Jackie Kay and even Scotland’s new games network.
The final list includes game developers, digital artists, writers, poets, scriptwriters, artists and filmmakers.
Canongate told us:
There are many ways to tell a story, whether via the written word or through performance poetry, music, art, film, animation, graphic novels or digital media. The way we create, consume and interact with books is constantly evolving and we wanted to explore what could happen next. We believe these 40 storytellers, selected by the top creative minds in Scotland, will lead the way.
Digital creators on the list include:
- Donna Leishman (Independent)
- Yann Seznec (Lucky Frame)
- Tom De Majo (Quartic Llama)
- Simon Meek (Story Mechanics)
Canongate is a true Scottish success story. Founded in 1973, it was a small, but well-respected independent publisher, producing limited print-runs and enjoying their greatest degree of renown for Alasdair Gray’s magnum opus, Lanark. Fast-forward to 1994 and they are bought-out by current Managing Director Jamie Byng, ushering in a new age of cutting-edge imprints, international bestsellers and publisher of the year awards. They’ve even experimented with online games and digital experiences around titles including Life of Pi.
You can find the full list of 40 future story tellers on The Skinny website. The full list of nominators can be found here.
Congratulations to Donna, Yann, Tom and Simon. We’re already fans of their work here at SGN HQ so we’re looking forward to big, BIG things, which enable ongoing convergence between interactive media and the future of story telling.
No pressure guys, it’s just, you know, THE FUTURE. Hope you get some cake and a badge proclaiming you the pioneers we’ve been stating you are…
Canongate are launching their promotion of the project, The Other Side at Edinburgh’s Jam House on September 19th. You can find full details (and book tickets) here.
Authors Michel Faber, Matt Haig, Alasdair Gray, and Michael Smith will be joined by poet and ex-Arab Strap musician Aidan Moffat and R M Hubbert, Rick Redbeard from The Phantom Band and very special guests. Jeremy Dyson (League of Gentleman, Psychoville, Ghost Stories), will take guests over to the dark side with his twisted tales and classical pianist James Rhodes, whose debut album, Razor Blades, Little Pills and Big Pianos reached No 1 in the iTunes classical chart, will give an exclusive performance.
Hosted by South Bank Associate Artist and official poet for the London Olympics Lemn Sissay, the event will also showcase original films featuring Tilda Swinton and the late Gil Scott Heron, plus an exclusive preview of Jonathan Glazer’s much-anticipated film adaptation of Under the Skin (starring Scarlett Johansson and due for release 2014).
Bibliotherapy will be provided by The School of Life’s Ella Berthoud, author of The Novel Cure, and special guest DJs will keep us partying on into the night.