Antarctica named Scottish Book of the Year

3  November 2013 BBC News Scotland

 

  Gavin Francis wrote Empire Antarctica after working as a doctor at a research station

An Edinburgh GP who wrote a book after spending 14 months at a research station at the south pole has won Scotland's largest literary prize.

Gavin Francis won the £30,000 Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book of the Year for Empire Antarctica.
The prize was announced at the Lennoxlove Book Festival, with three runners up also receiving £5,000.
The awards recognise authors from or who reside in Scotland, or those whose book has particular Scottish interest.

Mr Francis wrote the book while working as base camp doctor at the Halley research station on the Caird coast. It is said to be so remote, it is easier to evacuate a casualty from the International Space Station than it is to bring someone out of Halley in winter.

He said: "Winning an award like this, for any writer, is a tremendous endorsement of what it is that they're trying to achieve."
The author said he was "astonished and delighted" to have won.
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"Scotland has a tradition of looking out beyond its borders, even as far as Antarctica, and Scottish literature has always punched above its weight," he added. "I'm conscious that to be part of that tradition, and that literature, is an immense privilege."
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