The Callum Macdonald Memorial Award 2006 has been created to recognise publishing skill and effort; to validate the practice of poetry publication in pamphlet form; and to encourage the preservation of printed material of this kind in the national collections.

It has been created in memory of Callum Macdonald MBE, Scottish literary publisher and founder of Macdonald Publishers and Printers, which played a significant part in post-war Scottish culture.

The prize consists of the presentation annually in May (the month of Callum’s birth) of The Callum Macdonald Quaich and a cash prize of £500. Publishers of Scottish origin, living in Scotland, or engaged with Scottish culture may submit up to three pamphlets, which should not be less than 6 pages or more than 30 in length (not including preliminaries). It is expected that the binding will be limp cover, folded, rather than case bound and the original print run will not exceed 300 copies. It is also acceptable for pamphlets to be published by poets themselves. The subject matter is unrestricted in the poetry field and may include material in any of the languages used in Scotland. Pamphlets should be published in the calendar year preceding the award (January to December 2005).

Each entry should be accompanied by a descriptive note explaining the aesthetic choices made and the aims of the publication.

Entries should be sent by 27 March 2006 to:

The Administrator
The Callum Macdonald Memorial Fund
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge Building
Edinburgh
EH1 1EW

All entries will be displayed at the awards ceremony at the National Library of Scotland on May 15. It is a condition of the competition that all entries submitted may be taken into the collections of the National Library of Scotland without charge if required.

The judges for the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award for 2006 will be:

Tessa Ransford (Poet and editor, 1988-98, of Lines Review published by Callum)
Gill McConnell (Poet and winner of the 2005 Award)
Lesley Duncan (Poetry Editor of the Herald)
Tom Dalgleish (Chairman of the Trustees of Macdonald Printers)

If you have any further enquiries about the Award, please contact NLS Marketing Services on 0131 623 3764/3762 or e-mail j.stone@nls.uk  .