Scotland’s Best Writers

Scotland has a long and rich literary tradition, from lyrical fantasies to gritty realism; with world-renowned authors from Robert Louis Stevenson to Muriel Spark and spanning genres from crime to science fiction. In the summer, BBC Scotland viewers were asked to vote for their favourite Scottish book. From an initial longlist of 30 novels, selected by an expert panel curated by the Scottish Book Trust, here are the top ten books.

1. Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon
2. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
3. Lanark by Alasdair Gray
4. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
5. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Muriel Spark
6. Harry Potter & The Philosopher’s Stone By JK Rowling
7. Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
8. Knots & Crosses by Ian Rankin
9. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
10. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg