WINNER

I don’t think anyone could have been more delighted - or so ruddy surprised - about this than me. The book, written by Gordon M Hay and illustrated by me just WON AN AWARD! I didn’t go to the awards ceremony because of childcare, time, money, distance, hassle and I was so so sure we didn’t have a chance against the competition. I was also recovering from yet another cold and just couldn’t face it.

My disbelief was verging on a sort of panic when I glanced at my phone that evening and it was exploding with messages

just after the announcement (which I missed). This book was self-published by Gordon and thank goodness he was in attendance to collect the award. He commissioned the illustrations himself so it was just a two person project done over email and a couple of calls throughout another year of Covid restrictions. To be honest,

I have rarely been so grateful for a project; times is ‘ard these days and the continued 2020-21 lockdowns shut all my stockists and completely torched any community projects and live illustration I had lined up.

It was all feeling rather desperate, so a chance to draw 50 odd images for a book was BIG news. It was also massive amounts of work - it took me nine months to do it around other wee jobs and childcare - but it really came together in the end. I was - and am - very proud of it.

Scots - even in Scotland - is seen as niche and a minority language (some folk even think it’s just a dialect) despite folk speaking it all over the country, as much in inner city Glasgow as up in the wilds of rural Aberdeenshire.

Doric is only one branch of Scots, so to have recognition for this Doric book is amazing. I guess the award technically belongs to Gordon, but it feels like I won too (not least because he said very nice things about me - I watched the playback!), but we owe our sky high good feeling to the unwavering support of friends, family and followers, to everyone who bought the book, voted, read it and still reads it. That’s the bit I think about. I read it to my three year old, it’s read in several Aberdeenshire schools and there must be a host of folk reading it to children all over the place. What a joy.