A Dundee-born author, poet and illustrator has been given national recognition for his efforts to teach the Scots language to children.
Matthew Fitt was awarded the Scottish Book Trust’s outstanding contribution to children’s books award.
Matthew, 52, co-founded publisher Itchy Coo, which reproduces popular novels in Scots.
Books from the imprint include Scots translations of Roald Dahl, David Walliams, Julia Donaldson and JK Rowling.
Matthew Fitt said: “I couldnae believe it.
“There’s surely hunners mair deserving writers oot there but I’m very grateful to Scottish Book Trust for this.
“It’s an invaluable organisation that does so much to get kids reading. And it’s pure magic for Scots and a’ the braw bairns and weans that love reading in Scots to be recognised in this way.”
Matthew regularly visits schools and hosts workshops for aspiring young writers. He has given training in Scots language education to teachers in every local authority in Scotland.
Marc Lambert, chief executive at Scottish Book Trust, said: “It is wonderful to have the opportunity to recognise the truly outstanding contribution Matthew Fitt has made to life in Scotland, not just in the worlds of writing for children and adults, but as a champion of the Scots language and a publisher of wonderful books too, under the Itchy Coo imprint.
“Few have done as much as Matthew to contribute to the life of Scotland, and few have been as effective as he in developing, sustaining and enlarging our culture. For all these reasons and more, we are thrilled to be able to present him with such a well-deserved award.”
Born in Dundee in 1968,Matthew studied Literature at Edinburgh University.
At the age of 26, Matthew was appointed writer in residence at Brownsbank, the former home of the Scottish poet Hugh MacDiarmid. There he published his most popular poem to date, Kate o Shanter’s Tale, and worked on the first full-length novel in Scots, But n Ben A-Go-Go, before going on to found Itchy Coo 18 years ago
He was chosen for the award by a panel of judges including previous winner Viv French, writer and journalist Chitra Ramaswamy, Anne Barclay, operational director of Wigtown Book Festival, a children’s specialiast Chris Newton, head of schools communities at Scottish Book Trust, and Danny Scott, author and digital marketing manager at Scottish Book Trust.
