ASLS is based in the University of Glasgow and promotes the study, teaching and writing of Scotland's literatures and languages, past and present.
We publish scholarly journals and literary criticism; new editions of classic works of Scottish literature; companions and study guides; and - with the support of Creative Scotland - New Writing Scotland, an annual anthology of the best new short fiction and poetry in Scotland today, in English, Gaelic and Scots. We also publish the free ezine The Bottle Imp.
Each year, ASLS holds annual conferences on Scottish writers in such diverse locations as Glasgow, Kirkwall, Edinburgh and Skye. We also hold annual conferences on Scottish literature and languages in the classroom. These schools conferences are suitable for CPD (Continuous Professional Development), and attract teachers from across Scotland.
Along with other Scottish literary organisations, and with the support of the Scottish Government, ASLS campaigns for a greater appreciation, at home and abroad, of Scotland's literary culture.
Beginning in the 1920s, the Scottish Renaissance saw Scottish writers increasingly engaged with social and political issues. Hugh MacDiarmid, his contemporaries, and the company of poets he inspired make up the first and second waves of the Renaissance. A Kist o Skinklan Things contains a selection of the best work from this extraordinary period.
Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) is one of the giants of modern literature. In Touch With Language presents previously uncollected prose, with topics ranging from Gilgamesh to Ginsberg, cybernetics to sexualities, international literatures to the changing face of his home city of Glasgow. Everyone will find surprises and delights in this new collection.
Faced with the prospect of marriage to an elderly, squinting Duke, the Lady Julia elopes with her penniless Scottish beau. But what happens when this English society beauty's romantic notions of the Highlands meet cold, damp reality? Susan Ferrier's 1818 novel Marriage is a witty and satirical examination of female lives in the Regency era.
New Writing Scotland is the principal forum for poetry and short fiction in Scotland today. Every year it publishes the very best from both emerging and established writers, and lists many of the leading literary lights of Scotland among its past (and present) contributors.
This International Companion traces the impact of the huge changes between 1400 and 1650, in court, culture, and religion, on Scotland's literatures, and provides a comprehensive overview to the major cultural developments of this turbulent age.
As well as examining much-loved authors of the long nineteenth century such as Stevenson, Barrie, and MacDonald, these twenty essays explore the neglected role of women writers in shaping the inheritance of Scottish children's literature, the significant contribution of Gaelic writers, and the influence of folklore and tradition.
Edwin Morgan (1920-2010) is one of the giants of modern poetry. He produced an astonishing range of work, from the playful to the profound. This book guides the reader along Morgan's astonishing, multi-faceted trajectory through space and time, and provides students with an essential and accessible general introduction to his life and work.
This International Companion examines the social, political and philosophical context of Macpherson's "poems of Ossian", their disputed origins, their impact on world literature, and the various critical afterlives of Macpherson and his creations.
John Galt (1779-1839) was a contemporary of Sir Walter Scott and Jane Austen, and a friend and biographer of Lord Byron. This INTERNATIONAL COMPANION examines Galt's writings in the social, economic, and religious contexts of their time.
Lewis Grassic Gibbon is one of the most important Scottish writers of the early twentieth century. This book gives a comprehensive overview of Gibbon's writing, placing him in the broader context of the social, political, and literary developments of his time, and provides readers with a comprehensive general introduction to his life and work.
A range of leading international scholars provide the reader with a comprehensive and accessible introduction to the extraordinary richness and diversity of Scotland's poetry, from early medieval texts to contemporary writers, examining English, Gaelic, Latin and Scots verse.
The Rooftop Busker: New Writing Scotland 33 is the latest collection of excellent contemporary literature, drawn from a wide cross-section of Scottish culture and society, and includes new work from fifty-two authors - some award-winning and internationally renowned, and some just beginning their careers.
The Space of Fiction shows how contemporary Scottish novelists illuminate a post-national, cosmopolitan, multicultural and even globalised Scotland. Professor Pittin-Hedon explores their notions of space and place, and questions the impact of fiction on the nature of identity.
A selection of folk stories steeped in the traditions and popular literature of southern Scotland and northern England. Originally published in 1822, Cunningham's Traditional Tales form an essential part of folkloric history, as well as being fascinating stories in their own right.