One of Scotland’s favourite sons, the bestselling author Iain Banks is up for the prize, too, with The Steep Approach to Garbadale. Set in the Scottish highlands, the latest mainstream novel from the author of The Wasp Factory and the Culture science fiction series (as Iain M Banks) is a family saga with political overtones. John Burnside, meanwhile, may be better known for his poetry - he has been shortlisted for the Forward and TS Eliot prizes and is a previous Whitbread poetry award-winner - but is a contender here with The Devil’s Footprints, his lyrical, brooding novel about memory, guilt and secrets. Finally, Dan Rhodes is in the running with his Pembrokeshire-set novel Gold, a funny and touching tale of a young Welsh/Japanese woman and her annual month-long stay in a small coastal village.The prize commemorates the life of Glaswegian Clare Maclean, who taught creative writing and was, according to her partner Mike Gonzalez, “an extraordinary reader”. Gonzalez, who is professor of Latin American Studies at Glasgow University is joined on the judging panel by Rosemary Goring, literary editor of the Herald, and Rob Maslen, senior lecturer in English literature at Glasgow University.The winner will be announced on March 15 at the Aye Write! festival in Glasgow. Now in its third year, the festival takes place in the city’s Mitchell Library and features over 200 authors, including Hanif Kureishi, Louis de Berni�res, Tony Parsons, Joanne Harris, Blake Morrison and Hollywood star Kathleen Turner.
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