Polygon New Titles 2020

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POLYGON NEW TITLES 2020

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SCOTLAND ENGLAND and WALES IRELAND Seol Ltd Compass IPS Brookside Publishing Services West Newington House GW Business Centre 16 Priory Hall Office Park 10 Newington Road Great West House Stillorgan Edinburgh EH9 1QS Great West Road Co. Dublin Ireland Tel: +44 (0)131 668 1473 Brentford, Middlesex Phone (off): +353 (0)1 2784225 [email protected] TW8 9DF Phone (mob): +353 86 225 2380 Tel: +44 (0)20 8326 5696 [email protected]

Polygon, an imprint of Birlinn Ltd, publishes new, vibrant fiction, poetry, music, current affairs and classic literature from world-renowned writers as well as strong, emerging voices. The list is AUSTRALIA UNITED STATES CANADA & NEW ZEALAND Casemate Georgetown Publications rooted in Scotland but publishes voices from and for the world’s stage. New South Books 2114 Darby Road 34 Armstrong Avenue c/o Alliance Dist. Services Havertown, Georgetown In Summer / Autumn 2020 Polygon will publish Denzil Meyrick’s eighth crime novel in the 9 Pioneer Avenue PA 19083 ON L7G 4R9 D.C.I series (more than 1 million books sold in this series so far) and a stand-alone novella, a Tuggerah NSW 2259 USA CANADA Australia Tel: (+1) 610 853 9131 Tel: (+1) 905 873 8498 stunning debut from Jenny Lecoat which has sold for a six-figure sum to HarperCollins US, the Tel: (+61) 2 4390 1391 [email protected] [email protected] first in a new mystery series from Sandra Ireland, a Highland-set thriller from Douglas Skelton [email protected] and a delightful new novel from Isla Dewar. New to our list – but not to readers! – is Gordon www.newsouthbooks.com.au Brown’s crime novel set in Spain (here writing as Morgan Cry). We mark the centenary of poet Edwin Morgan with five beautiful books – The Edwin Morgan Twenties –(with introductions commissioned from Ali Smith, Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, Michael Rosen and Ken MacLeod) and NORTHERN EUROPE SOUTHERN EUROPE Bill Bailey Publishers’ Ted Dougherty look forward to the centenary of George Mackay Brown with the republication of An Orkney Representatives Export Sales Agency Tapestry . One of the world’s favourite writers, Alexander McCall Smith, brings us a delightful 16 Devon Square 72 Hadley Street new book of Tiny Tales . In addition, he will continue to bring smiles to the faces of the many Newton Abbot London fans of his Scotland Street series with a new book in the summer. And we are proud to publish Devon NW1 8TA TQ12 2HR Tel: 020 7482 2439 his first volume of poetry at the end of the Summer. Tel: +44 1626 331079 Mob: 07802 500 448 [email protected] [email protected] Polygon emerged from radical beginnings in the aftermath of student upheavals in the late sixties. Students at the University of Edinburgh set up their own publication board (EUSPB), and published the Gramsci Prison Letters , The Red Paper on Scotland (edited by former Prime PUBLICITY & MARKETING Minister, Gordon Brown), and Who Owns Scotland – and they did so with style and panache. They went on to publish Ian Rankin, Tibor Fischer, James Meek among many others, and of SALES COORDINATOR PUBLICITY & MARKETING DIRECTOR PUBLICITY MANAGER course the beloved Alexander McCall Smith. The student publisher later became a key part of UK & EXPORT Jan Rutherford Kristian Kerr Edinburgh University Press before being purchased by the small and dynamic publisher, Birlinn. Jamie Harris [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

The full company is comprised of a number of imprints: DISTRIBUTION RIGHTS REPRESENTED BY SALES DIRECTOR Booksource Fiona Brownlee Laura Poynton 50 Cambuslang Road [email protected] [email protected] Glasgow G32 8NB Tel: 0845 370 0067 Intl: +44 (0)141 643 3961 [email protected] CONTENTS

2 FICTION

5 ALEXANDER McCALL SMITH 8 CRIME & MYSTERY 14 TRAVEL WRITING 15 NON-FICTION 17 POETRY 23 CLASSICS 24 BACKLIST HIGHLIGHTS polygon | fiction JENNY LECOAT Hedy’s War

In June 1940, the Channel Islands becomes the only part of Great Britain to be occupied by Hitler’s forces. Hedy Bercu, a young Jewish girl from Vienna who fled to Jersey two years earlier to escape the Anschluss, finds herself once more entrapped by the Nazis, this time with no escape.

COVER IMAGE Hedy’s War follows her struggle to survive the Occupation and avoid deportation to the camps. Despite her racial status, Hedy finds work with the German authorities and embarks on acts of resistance. Most remarkable of all, she falls in love with German lieutenant Kurt Rümmele – a relationship on which her life soon comes to depend.

Jenny Lecoat’s debut novel is a tense, emotional JENNY LECOAT’s parents story of forbidden love, subterfuge and survival were raised under the German against the odds Occupation of Jersey, and both Based on the true story of Hedy Bercu, a young families were involved in resistance Jewish girl who, having fled to Jersey to escape activity. Lecoat moved to England the Anschluss, finds herself trapped on Jersey aged 18, where she spent a decade during the German Occupation on the alternative comedy circuit. She was nominated for a prestigious Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary Perrier Award in 1986. She also of the liberation of the Channel Islands on 9 May wrote for newspapers and women’s 1945 magazines and presented TV and Rights already sold to Australia, Argentina and radio shows, before focusing on Portugal, and to the US in a six-figure auction screen writing.

ISBN: 9781846975318 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 07 May 2020 - OUT NOW Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 272pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852784 2 Rights: World All Languages (exc. AU/NZ/NA) polygon | fiction ISLA DEWAR A Day Like Any Other

Anna and her best friend George meet every week to remember, to sigh, to laugh, to reminisce about their moments of glory, guilt and mischief and share their sorrows over a glass or three of wine. But when both are confronted with new experiences, it seems that there may be more to do than remember the past...

Does all this mark an ending or the beginning of something new and marvellous for Anna and George?

The wonderful new novel from the author of the summer bestseller It Takes One to Know One Readers of Gail Honeyman and Jenny Colgan will relish this new novel from one of Scotland’s best-loved authors ISLA DEWAR’s first book,Keeping A story of lifelong friendship, full of Isla Dewar’s Up with Magda, was published in trademark humour, insight, depth and honesty 1995. Dewar found success with her second novel, Women Talking Dirty, the film of which starred Helena Bonham Carter. Her most Also available: recent novel, It Takes One to Know It Takes One to Know One One, was published by Polygon in Isla Dewar 2018. Born in Edinburgh, Isla lives in the East Neuk of Fife with her husband, political cartoonist Bob Dewar.

ISBN: 9781846974908 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 14 May 2020 - OUT NOW Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 256pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852906 Rights: World All Languages 3 polygon | fiction

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH The Second Worst Restaurant in France Paul Stewart has returned to Scotland to continue his successful career. His agent and girlfriend, Gloria, has arranged for him to write The Philosophy of Food in Six Easy Chapters, a project he relishes but that will have to be delivered in six months.

COVER IMAGE Beginning to worry that The Philosophy of Food will never be written Paul escapes to a French village just outside Poitiers. Once there, however, Paul finds his fortunes tangled up with the fate of one eating establishment in the village: the infamous Second Worst Restaurant in France ...

Features the returning protagonist of the bestselling My Italian Bulldozer A delightful, humorous story set in the south of ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH is France – the perfect holiday read the author of the highly successful The Paul Stewart series has sold over 25,000 No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency copies series, which has sold over twenty- five million copies. Since then he Also available: has devoted his time to the writing Chance Developments of fiction and has seen his various Alexander McCall Smith series of books translated into over Fatty O’Leary’s Dinner Party forty-six languages and become Alexander McCall Smith bestsellers throughout the world.

ISBN: 9781846975479 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 11 June 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 224pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852265 4 Rights: EL UK & Commonwealth (exc. North America) polygon | fiction

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH Tiny Tales ILLUSTRATED In Tiny Tales Alexander McCall Smith explores BY IAIN MCINTOSH romance, ambition, kindness and happiness in thirty short stories that range in length from the short to the minuscule. The settings are as diverse as the characters – Scotland, England, Australia, the United States – combining to create a rich and surprising tableau. An Australian pope?. A persuasive cosmetic surgeon? The world’s laziest cat. A group of students living together and getting romantically entangled? All human and animal life is here – in miniature.

These stories are inspired and accompanied by the thirty magnificent strip Tiny Tales created by McCall Smith and illustrated by the brilliant Iain McIntosh - each cartoon a little gem of observation. A series of mischievous sketch stories, some painted with words from the master of storytelling and others through extraordinary illustrations from an illustrator at the height of his powers A unique collaboration and the perfect gift for McCall Smith fans

Fatty O’Leary’s Dinner Party Alexander McCall Smith

ISBN: 9781846975370 Price: £12.99 | Publication: 06 August 2020 Format: 170 x 129mm H-pbk | Extent: 128pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788853170 Rights: EL UK and Commonwealth (exc. AU/NZ) 5 polygon | poetry

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH In a Time of Distance And Other Poems ILLUSTRATED BY IAIN MCINTOSH ‘In a Time of Distance’, the poem from which the collection take its title, was written at the start of the global pandemic which struck at the start of 2020, here the author reminds us of what is important in life and to focus on love, friendship and family. And it is this approach to life that makes this collection a captivating celebration of love and friendship, of Scotland and people, of animals and books. Looking at the World through the lens of this writer, it is a better, more humane place. Throughout the collection there are moments of swoop and soar, descriptions that will make you laugh and realign your view. The author reminds us to look at the World differently, to stop once in while and look up at the sky.

This collection is a quiet and fragile beauty.

The title poem ‘In a Time of Distance’ was read on BBC Radio 4 and has been viewed online by more than 120,000 readers This is Alexander McCall Smith’s first collection of poetry Divided into seven sections, the author leads the reader by the hand and has written introductory text to some of the poems

ISBN: 9781846975622 Price: £12.99 | Publication: 01 October 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-hbk | Extent: 112pp Illustrations: b/w line drawings throughout ePub: 9781788853729 Rights: EL UK & Commonwealth (exc. North America) 6 polygon | fiction

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH Scotland Street Volume 14

To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose; it is summer in Scotland Street (as it always is) and for the habitués of Edinburgh’s favourite street some extraordinary adventures lie in waiting. Join Bertie, Irene, Stuart and all the rest for another 44 Scotland Street tale.

Little dramas writ large by the master chronicler of modern life and manners in the latest book in the 44 Scotland Street series, now the world’s longest-running serial novel.

14th volume in the worldwide sensation of the Scotland Street series Alexander McCall Smith’s books have been translated into 40 languages and sold over 25 million copies worldwide Serialised in the Scotsman newspaper from January 2020

Also available: Trains and Lovers Alexander McCall Smith Pianos and Flowers Alexander McCall Smith

ISBN: 9781846975561 Price: £16.99 | Publication: 05 November 2020 Format: 216 x 138mm Demy hbk | Extent: 256pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852791 Rights: EL UK & Commonwealth (exc. North America) 7 polygon | crime and mystery DENZIL MEYRICK Jeremiah’s Bell The New D.C.I. Daley Thriller

Teenager Alison Doig disappeared from Kinloch over thirty years ago under mysterious circumstances. Her reclusive family still live in a remote part of the Kintyre peninsula, amidst rumours of wrecking, smuggling and barbaric cruelty.

Now rich American hotelier Alice Wenger has arrived in town, determined to punish those who made her suffer in the past. But someone has vowed to keep hidden sins concealed for ever.

Daley’s team must race against time to expose long-held secrets and shameful lies before there are any more victims.

After studying politics A twist-packed page-turner filled with deadly secrets, dark rumours and family grudges DENZIL MEYRICK worked as a police officer, distillery manager, A Breath on Dying Embers, was longlisted for freelance journalist, and company the McIlvanney Prize for Crime Book of the Year director. He is originally from 2019 Campbeltown in Argyll, but now Sales of over 1 million DCI Daley novels lives with his wife Fiona on Loch worldwide, achieving the No.1 spot on Amazon Lomondside. Kindle and Audible Also available in this series: A Breath on Dying Embers by Denzil Meyrick

ISBN: 9781846975202 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 04 June 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 400pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852791 8 Rights: EL UK & Commonwealth (exc. North America) polygon | crime and mystery DENZIL MEYRICK A Sea of Woes A Kinloch Novella

It’s 1967. Veteran fisherman Sandy Hoynes and first mate Hamish are stuck in port due to heavy snow. With all roads blocked, the Kinloch community turn to their fishing fleet to make for the Ayrshire coast in search of vital supplies. At first, Sandy is reluctant, but when a reporter from the Fisherman’s Quarterly offers to accompany the brave mariners on their mercy mission, Sandy changes his mind. ‘We’ll be legends of the west coast fleet!’ he tells his COVER FORTHCOMING dubious first mate.

But when reporter Jamie Henderson arrives on the quayside at Kinloch, there is a serious problem. The crew of the Girl Maggie face snowstorms, superstition and unexpected cargo as they set off to save the hungry folk of Kinloch. Have they bitten off more than they can chew? ‘Jim Daley and Brian Scott are like a fine cask whisky. They improve each A brand new novella from Denzil Meyrick, and every year. What a fabulous author of the global bestselling DCI Daley read, compelling to the very end. detective series For me the best in the series so An entertaining adventure story with two far. I found some laugh out loud unlikely heroes at the helm, a perfect moments and others reaching combination of thrills and humour that for the tissues. The ending was will make it the perfect gift for book lovers unexpected and I did not see it coming. Time to pre-order now’ – David Gilchrist, Founder of UK Crime Book Club

ISBN: 9781846975578 Price: £9.99 | Publication: 01 October 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-hbk | Extent: 112pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788853460 Rights: EL UK & Commonwealth (exc. North America) 9 polygon | crime and mystery DOUGLAS SKELTON The Blood is Still A Rebecca Connolly Thriller

When the body of a man in eighteenth-century Highland dress is discovered on the site of the Battle of Culloden, journalist Rebecca Connolly takes up the story for the Chronicle.

When a second body – this time in the Redcoat uniform of the government army – is found in Inverness, Rebecca finds herself drawn ever deeper into the mystery. Are the murders connected to politics, a local gang war or something else entirely?

Investigative journalist Rebecca Connolly returns in this follow up to the acclaimed, McIlvanney longlisted Thunder Bay A thrilling murder-mystery infused with political tension and intrigue DOUGLAS SKELTON has been Douglas Skelton is an experienced true crime a bank clerk, tax officer, taxi driver writer with real investigative experience (for two days), wine waiter (for two hours), journalist and investigator. He has written eleven true crime and Scottish criminal Also available in this series: history books but now concentrates Thunder Bay Douglas Skelton on fiction. Douglas has investigated real-life crime for Glasgow solicitors and was involved in a long-running campaign to right the famous Ice- Cream Wars miscarriage of justice.

ISBN: 9781846975301 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 05 March 2020 - OUT NOW Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 288pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852586 10 Rights: World All Languages polygon | crime and mystery MORGAN CRY Thirty-One Bones

When Effie Coulston drops dead on the floor of her bar in a small Spanish town mid-business meeting, her daughter Daniella feels it’s her duty to return for the funeral. But Daniella has been estranged from her mother for over twenty years, and Effie’s life in Spain harbours many secrets. COVER IMAGE Daniella is soon confronted by a hostile group of ex-pat misfits who frequent the bar and who, along with Effie, are involved in a multi-million- pound property scam. With threats coming from all sides, Daniella is up against a seemingly impossible deadline. She’s a stranger in a strange town – and she’s seriously out of her depth.

A perfect summer read for crime fans, this Gordon Brown is writing as thriller is set on Spain’s Costa Blanca with a MORGAN CRY. Gordon has colourful cast of doublecrossing characters written six crime thrillers to date, Features a female protagonist who’s smart and along with a number of short switched-on, yet swimming seriously out of her stories. He also helped found depth Bloody Scotland, Scotland’s International Crime Writing Set in Spain, the most popular location for Festival, is a DJ on local radio holidaying Brits, yet one rarely featured in UK (www.pulseonair.co.uk) and runs a crime strategic planning consultancy. Morgan Cry is the pseudonym for Gordon Brown, an author with 35 years’ experience in sales and marketing

ISBN: 9781846975394 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 02 July 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 304pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788853163 Rights: World All Languages 11 polygon | crime and mystery SANDRA IRELAND Sight Unseen A Sarah Sutherland Thriller

Kilgour, 1648. Alisoune Gowdie is burned at the stake for witchcraft.

2019. Sarah Sutherland is struggling to cope with the demands of her day job, but by night runs a ghostly tour. Her stories delight tourists as she leads them along the cobbled streets of her home town, but what really lies behind the tale of Alie Gowdie, the Kilgour Witch? Can Sarah uncover the truth in order to right a centuries- old wrong? And what else might modern-day Kilgour be hiding, just out of sight?

A new mystery series from the critically acclaimed master of the psychological thriller, Sandra Ireland A tale of family ties, mystery and suspense, love and sacrifice, set against a backdrop of historic SANDRA IRELAND was witch trials and modern-day slavery awarded a Carnegie-Cameron scholarship to study for an MLitt in Her novel Bone Deep was sold to the US, Writing Practice and Study at the Germany and India University of Dundee, graduating with a distinction in 2014. Her work Also available: has appeared in various publications Bone Deep Sandra Ireland and women’s magazines. She is the author of Beneath the Skin The Unmaking of (2016), Bone Deep (2018) and The Ellie Rook Unmaking of Ellie Rook (2019). Sandra Ireland She lives in Carnoustie, Scotland.

ISBN: 9781846975288 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 03 September 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 256pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852814 12 Rights: World All Languages polygon | crime and mystery ROBERT J. HARRIS A Study in Crimson Sherlock Holmes, 1942

LONDON, 1942. A killer going by the name of ‘Crimson Jack’ is stalking the wartime streets of London, murdering women on the exact dates of the infamous Jack the Ripper killings of 1888. Has the Ripper somehow returned from the grave? Is the self- styled Crimson Jack a descendant of the original COVER IMAGE Jack or merely a madman obsessed with those notorious killings?

In desperation Scotland Yard turn to Sherlock Holmes, the world’s greatest detective. Surely he is the one man who can sift fact from legend and track down Crimson Jack before he completes his tally of death. As Holmes and the faithful Watson tread the blacked out streets of London, death waits just around the corner. was born ROBERT J. HARRIS A tribute to the classic Universal Pictures in Dundee and studied at the Sherlock Holmes film series starring Basil University of St. Andrews. He is the Rathbone and Nigel Bruce, which updated designer of the bestselling fantasy Holmes and Watson to wartime London board game Talisman and has written numerous books, including This thrilling murder mystery pits the world’s the popular World Goes Loki series, greatest detective against a new incarnation of its the Artie Conan Doyle Mysteries, as most notorious killer well as the bestselling The Thirty- Sherlock Holmes is a perennially popular One Kings and Castle Macnab. He character, and recent reinventions have been lives in St. Andrews with his wife, incredibly successful - The House of Silk sold Debby. almost 300,000 copies and Robert Downey Jr will return as the character for a third movie in 2021 ISBN: 9781846975271 Price: £12.99 | Publication: 01 October 2020 Format: 216 x 138mm Demy hbk | Extent: 256pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852807 Rights: World All Languages 13 polygon | travel writing IAIN MALONEY The Only Gaijin in the Village A Year Living in Rural Japan

In 2016 Scottish writer Iain Maloney and his Japanese wife Minori moved to a village in rural Japan. This is the story of his attempt to fit in, be accepted and fulfil his duties as a member of the community, despite being the only foreigner in the village.

Told with self-deprecating humour, this memoir gives a fascinating insight into a side of Japan rarely seen and affirms the positive benefits of immigration for the individual and the community. It’s not always easy being the only gaijin in the village.

A positive and often hilarious immigrant story IAIN MALONEY is a lecturer which honestly describes difficulties in Foreign Studies at Nagoya Author is a regular Japan Times reviewer and University of Foreign Studies, Gaijinpot contributor, and is active on social Japan. He has degrees in English media (Aberdeen) and Creative Writing Will appeal to anyone interested in Japan, (Glasgow) and has published three travelling and living abroad, teaching English as novels. He reviews regularly for a a foreign language, and those engaged with ideas number of publications including of multiculturalism and immigrant experiences the Japan Times. He moved from Scotland ten years ago as a TEFL Growing market for books on Japan by foreigners teacher and lives in rural Japan with (For Fukui’s Sake by Sam Baldwin was a critically his wife, Minori. acclaimed hit)

ISBN: 9781846975141 Price: £12.99 | Publication: 05 March 2020 - OUT NOW Format: 216 x 138mm pbk | Extent: 256pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852593 Rights: World All Languages 14 polygon | non-fiction STUART COSGROVE Cassius X Six Months That Shaped the Sixties

Miami, 1963. A young boy from Louisville, Kentucky, is on the path to becoming the greatest sportsman of all time. Cassius Clay is training in the 5th Street Gym for his heavyweight title clash against the formidable Sonny Liston. He is beginning to embrace the ideas and attitudes of Black Power, and firebrand preacher Malcolm X COVER IMAGE will soon become his spiritual adviser. Thus Cassius Clay will become ‘Cassius X’ as he awaits his induction into the Nation of Islam.

Cassius also befriends the legendary soul singer Sam Cooke, falls in love with soul singer Dee Dee Sharp and becomes a remarkable witness to the first days of soul music. As with his award- winning soul trilogy, Stuart Cosgrove’s intensive research and sweeping storytelling shines a new light on how black music lit up the sixties against a STUART COSGROVE was media backdrop of social and political turmoil – and how editor with the NME and a feature Cassius Clay made his remarkable transformation writer for a range of newspapers and into Muhammad Ali. magazines. He has won numerous awards including a BAFTA and This is the remarkable story of the Royal Television Society award transformation of Cassius Clay into global icon for Channel 4’s coverage of the Muhammad Ali London Paralympics 2012. The second book in his soul trilogy, More than a biography, Cassius X is an Memphis 68, won the Penderyn exploration of a life against the dramatic social Music Prize in 2018. landscape of racism and segregation The book is soaked in the narrative detail and telling anecdotes that make Cosgrove’s books so unique and so popular, with over 40,000 copies ISBN: 9781846974762 Price: £16.99 | Publication: 03 September 2020 sold Format: 234 x 156mm Royal hbk | Extent: 256pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: 9781788852975 Rights: WAL exc. North America 15 polygon | non-fiction MALACHY TALLACK The Un-Discovered Islands An Archipelago of Myths and Mysteries, Phantoms and Fakes

Gathered in this book are over twenty islands that have decidedly human origins, whether they are the products of imagination, deception or simply human error. They are phantoms, fakes and legends: an archipelago of ex-isles and forgotten lands.

From the well-known myths of Atlantis to the more obscure legends of Thule and Antilla, from the islands of pure fiction to others whose existence are still in question, Malachy Tallack has created an atlas of fairytale and wonder. MALACHY TALLACK has written for the New Statesman, Winner of the Edward Stanford Illustrated Travel the Guardian, the Scottish Review Book of the Year Award 2017 of Books, Caught By the River and many other publications, online New in paperback, over 8,000 copies sold and in print. He won a New Writers Accompanied by glorious full colour illustrations Award from the Scottish Book from Katie Scott who has worked with The New Trust in 2014, and the Robert Louis York Times, and is the illustrator of Animalium Stevenson Fellowship in 2015. He Malachy Tallack is the author of the bestselling is from Shetland, and currently lives Sixty Degrees North in Glasgow.

ISBN: 9781846975585 Price: £12.99 | Publication: 05 November 2020 Format: 170 x 129mm pbk | Extent: 112pp Illustrations: colour throughout ePub: n/a Rights: UK & Commonwealth exc. Canada 16 polygon | poetry

ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH (ed.) A Gathering A Personal Anthology of Scottish Poems

A poem does not have to be famous to be cherished. The best-known poems of Robert Burns have been loved by countless people over the years, but there are other poems that may COVER IMAGE be largely unknown that will mean a great deal to the few who are familiar with them.

This anthology is a personal curation and not just a simple collection of poems. Each poem, handpicked by Alexander McCall Smith, leads the reader from one poem to the another.

An accessible and beautifully produced anthology, gathering together Scotland’s best loved poetry ALEXANDER MCCALL SMITH is Illustrated with specially commissioned line the author of the highly successful drawings by Joe McLaren No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which has sold over twenty- This book would be the perfect gift for any five million copies. Since then he occasion, or a perfect companion for poetry has devoted his time to the writing lovers to treat themselves of fiction and has seen his various series of books translated into over forty-six languages and become bestsellers throughout the world.

ISBN: 9781846975158 Price: £9.99 | Publication: 02 April 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 256pp Illustrations: b/w line drawings throughout ePub: n/a Rights:World All Languages 17 polygon | poetry EDWIN MORGAN The Edwin Morgan Twenties

The beginning of the new decade brings with it a celebration of one of Scotland’s most cherished poets, Scotland’s first modern Makar, Edwin Morgan. A son of Glasgow, the city’s first poet Laureate, Morgan wrote about the city he loved, the people in it and about Scotland more widely: the country that he was so passionate about.

To mark the centenary, Polygon is repatriating Edwin Morgan back to Scotland where he is to be published again, in association with Carcanet. Each book contains twenty poems, works on love, Scotland, people and places, animals and space. These volumes are introduced by popular names: Jackie Kay, Liz Lochhead, Ali Smith and Michael Rosen.

2020 is the centenary of the birth of one of EDWIN MORGAN became Scotland’s best-loved poets, Edwin Morgan Scotland’s first National Poet, or Makar, in 2004. His poetic output The Edwin Morgan Twenties are short, thematic was hardly dimmed by increasing selected collections of some of the poet’s most age; Collected Poems (Carcanet, cherished works 1990) and Collected Translations These books will be at the centre of the (Carcanet, 1996) were succeeded centenary celebrations by several later volumes of poetry, including Dreams and Other Edwin Morgan was Scotland’s first modern Nightmares (Mariscat Press, 2010). Makar He was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 2000.

ISBN: 9781846975424 Price: £5.00 | Publication: 12 March 2020 Format: 170 x 110mm A-pbk | Extent: 64pp (per volume) Illustrations: n/a ePub: n/a 18 Rights: World All Languages polygon | poetry

ISBN: 9781846975431 ISBN: 9781846975448 Introduced by Michael Rosen Introduced by Liz Lochhead

ISBN: 9781846975462 ISBN: 9781846975455 Introduced by Ken MacLeod Introduced by Ali Smith 19 polygon | poetry ANDREW GREIG Later That Day

Later That Day contains new works of gratitude and elegy. At once lyrical and direct, these poems take place in Glasgow, Auckland, the Scottish Lowlands and Highlands, and above all amid the clear light and bare, fertile islands of Orkney.

They look to come across the distance between writer and reader, between one person and another, as they register the magic and loss of living and loving.

A brand new collection of recent poems by Andrew Greig He is widely enjoyed as a poet, performer, and for his fiction and non-fiction books, includingIn Another Light (Saltire Scottish Book of the Year)

ANDREW GREIG is a Scottish ‘Andrew Greig treats the epic, with its archetypal writer living in Edinburgh and traditional trajectory of voyage and return, with Orkney. He has written seven touching lyric sensitivity’ novels, non-fiction books, on a – Times Literary Supplement variety of subjects and nine volumes of poetry. His titles are cherished Also available: for their emotional candour, Getting Higher humanity and enjoyment of Andrew Greig storytelling and adventure.

ISBN: 9781846975189 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 05 March 2020 - OUT NOW Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 96pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: n/a 20 Rights: World All Languages polygon | poetry COREY GIBSON (ED.) Hamish Henderson: Collected Poems Hailed by some as the most important Scottish poet since Burns, Hamish Henderson lived an epic life against the backdrop of some of the defining social, political and cultural battles – both national and international – of the twentieth century.

Published to celebrate the centenary of the birth COVER IMAGE of Hamish Henderson, this collected poems is the first since the poet’s death and makes available, for the first time, new material from the archive.

New in paperback, this is the first collected poems of Hamish Henderson published since 2000 This is the first such collection carried by a major Scottish publishing house and will feature several previously unpublished pieces HAMISH HENDERSON was In its editorial principles it is faithful to born in 1919 in Blairgowrie in Henderson’s commitment to what he called ‘the Perthshire and served in North carrying stream’ of the oral folk tradition Africa and Italy during the Second World War. Hamish was well-known as a songwriter, a translator and a pioneer in the field of Scottish folksong. He died in March 2002.

COREY GIBSON is a Lecturer in Twentieth-Century Scottish Literature at the University of Glasgow.

ISBN: 9781846975530 Price: £14.99 | Publication: 05 March 2020 - OUT NOW Format: 216 x 138mm pbk | Extent: 416pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: n/a Rights: World All Languages 21 polygon | poetry

MICHAEL PEDERSEN & KEVIN WILLIAMSON (ED.) Neu! Reekie! #UntitledThree

A follow up to the immensely popular #UntitledOne and #UntitledTwo, this year’s anthology gives us more of the promising and established names in British poetry who have all shared the Neu! Reekie! bill. Many of the works are new, many are favourites read at the events; all are savoured, sublime, sumptuous voices within poetry already.

Building on the success of #UntitledOne and #UntitledTwo this collection celebrates what Kevin Williamson and Michael Pedersen have been building over the past five years with their live shows Contributors to this anthology have included MICHAEL PEDERSEN is a Kathleen Jamie, Jackie Kay and Liz Lochhead poet, playwright and animater with an electric reputation on the Neu! Reekie! continues to be one of the performance circuit, having teamed country’s most formidable literary events and up with some of the UK’s top DIY record labels musicians, film-makers and artists. He is widely published in magazines, Also available: journals, anthologies and e-zines. #UntitledTwo Pedersen; Williamson KEVIN WILLIAMSON is a writer, publisher, and activist, originally from Caithness. He is a Scottish socialist and republican and was an activist for the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP).

ISBN: 9781846975400 Price: £12.99 | Publication: 03 September 2020 Format: 234 x 156mm pbk | Extent: 112pp Illustrations: n/a ePub: n/a 22 Rights: World All Languages polygon | classics JOHN BUCHAN Celebrating the 80th Anniversary in 2020 John Buchan was the author of the legendary thriller, The Thirty-Nine Steps, and creator of Richard Hannay, a character whose adventures have inspired a generation. As well as Hannay’s exploits, Buchan wrote over 20 novels that cemented his place as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

The Polygon editions of John Buchan’s novels are the only publications which are authorised and endorsed by the John Buchan estate, and three more titles are being reissued in 2020. Each one comes with a specially commissioned introduction by renowned writers and the series has sold over 60,000 copies so far.

Buchan’s perennial thriller, The Thirty-Nine Steps was selected as one of the 100 best novels in English in The Guardian ‘Buchan was a major influence on my work’ – ALFRED HITCHCOCK ‘Hannay – a mix of sleuth and action man, a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond’ – ROBERT McCRUM ‘Between Kipling and Fleming stands John Buchan, the father of the modern spy thriller’ – CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS OUT NOW MIDWINTER: 9781846975332 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 06 February 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 320pp

JOHN BURNET OF BARNS: 9781846970733 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 06 February 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 304pp

PRESTER JOHN: 9781846974052 Price: £8.99 | Publication: 06 February 2020 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk | Extent: 224pp 23 polygon | backlist highlights

WHISKY FROM THE LAST WITNESS DARK SUITS THE RAT STONE SERENADE SMALL GLASSES ISBN: 9781846972881 AND SAD SONGS ISBN: 9781846973406 ISBN: 9781846973215 Price: £8.99 ISBN: 9781846973154 Price: £8.99 Price: £8.99 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Price: £8.99 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Extent: 320pp Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Extent: 384pp Extent: 368pp Extent: 378pp

THE ARE OF HEARING A WELL-TEMPERED HEART THE THIRTY-ONE KINGS CASTLE MACNAB HEARTBEATS ISBN: 9781846972850 ISBN: 9781846974151 ISBN: 9781846974786 ISBN: 9781846972409 Price: £8.99 Price: £7.99 Price: £8.99 Price: £8.99 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Extent: 336pp Extent: 256pp Extent: 256pp Extent: 336pp

24 polygon | backlist highlights

DETROIT 67 MEMPHIS 68 HARLEM 69 YOUNG SOUL REBELS ISBN: 9781846973666 ISBN: 9781846974137 ISBN: 9781846974748 ISBN: 9781846973932 Price: £9.99 Price: £9.99 Price: £9.99 Price: £9.99 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Extent: 512pp Extent: 326pp Extent: 288pp Extent: 320pp

AND IN THE END SUNSET SONG OYSTER MODER DY ISBN: 9781846975226 ISBN: 9781904598664 ISBN: 9781846973970 ISBN: 9781846974878 Price: £9.99 Price: £7.99 Price: £9.99 Price: £8.99 Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Format: 198 x 129mm B-pbk Extent: 288pp Extent: 288pp Extent: 128pp Extent: 64pp

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And one of the world’s favourite writers, Alexander PUBLICITY & MARKETING McCall Smith, will continue to delight the many fans of his Scotland Street series with The Peppermint SALES COORDINATOR PUBLICITY & MARKETING DIRECTOR PUBLICITY MANAGER Tea Chronicles. UK & EXPORT Jan Rutherford Kristian Kerr Jamie Harris [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

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