Special Guest Northern Highlight - SYP Scotland
SPECIAL GUEST NORTHERN HIGHLIGHT
Can you tell us about SYP and your work in Scotland?
The SYP is an organisation for those working in the publishing industry. The aim is to
support and encourage anyone in the first ten years of their publishing career (the ‘young’ in
our name is only in relation to career length, not the age of our members). The Scottish
branch is for members based in Scotland – we put on monthly events including panels,
workshops and socials for our members, which allows them to develop their networking and
other publishing skills while engaging with issues that the publishing industry is facing. We
also run an annual mentorship scheme, online networking events, and host an annual
conference, which is the highlight of many publishing professionals' calendars.
What are your latest events?
Grace: Our biggest event this year was our conference, Ctrl Alt Refresh, which was our first
fully digital conference. Accessibility and inclusion was a major theme of the conference,
both in panels and in our set up, and this is something that we are wanting to continue our
work on. Being inclusive and accessible for people of all races, classes and abilities is a goal
for the SYP and we’re continuously learning more about what we can be doing. So we will
be continuing this learning in our upcoming events this year.
Fine: We’ve just had our AGM, with an insightful panel on work-life balance, and now the
events team is working hard to put together interesting and thought-provoking events for the
coming year. We’re hoping to shine the light on some lesser known areas of publishing, such
as publishing in minority languages in the UK, and putting a focus on career-changers in
publishing. There’s lots to come, so keep your eyes on our socials!
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| Grace Balfour-Harle |
How important is networking in Scotland?
Natalie: There is a joke about the Scottish publishing sector being quite a small world, but
actually it’s very dense and varied, and there is a push in recent years to go beyond London
and even beyond Edinburgh so there is a lot going on to involve yourself in. The last year
has meant people based more rurally can engage with central events without arduous
journeys, although it’s not quite the same as visiting. Collaboration is key for
developing literature and publishing.
Lola: Networking has been absolutely vital to me, especially when it comes to my personal
and professional development. The Scottish literary scene is varied, vibrant, and very
welcoming and I’ve learned so much just from having a quick chat with people at events or on
social media. I’ve discovered new books, found resources I otherwise wouldn’t have, picked
up new skills and knowledge, and overall had a blast.
Grace: Networking is essential – publishing in Scotland can be seen as quite a small
industry. But the more events you go to and speak to people, the more you realise that there
are so many ways into Scottish publishing. I personally have found some rather fantastic
opportunities through networking. But it’s a word that tends to scare people off, so I tend to
think about it as just having a chat with someone. You’re not trying to sell yourself, it’s just
you being you and talking to like-minded people.
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| Natalie Jayne Clark |
Tell us about your mentorship scheme.
Our mentorship scheme for 2021/22 will open for applications in Autumn 2021, and is open to
any publishing professional (or hopeful) based in Scotland who is in the first ten years of their
publishing career (if you’re based outside Scotland, there are other regional branches of the
SYP that run mentorship schemes). The successful applicants will be paired up with a
publishing professional who can advise and mentor them over 6 months to reach their
professional goals. While in previous years SYP Scotland have only run the SYPInto stream
of the mentorship scheme (which is only open to publishing hopefuls), this year we are hoping
to also run the SYPAhead stream, which is open to junior publishing professionals in their first
or second role who want to progress their careers. It’s a really useful experience for both
mentors and mentees – they can both learn something from it, and get to meet a new person
in the industry too!
What for you is the 'spirit of Scotland'?
Yasmin: I’ve lived here for around seven years now. Scotland was where I really fell in love
with the arts, and decided I wanted to work in the industry – the Fringe Festival, the
Edinburgh Book Festival, and so many more things, showed me how much of an amazing
arts culture Scotland has.
Natalie: The connection with nature, the ability to blether with anyone, the wonderful and
often fantastical work being created in the arts sector.
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| Yasmin Hackett |
Fine: I moved to Scotland just 6 years ago, and have recently made the move to the big city
– Glasgow. They say that people make Glasgow, and I think this motto applies to the whole
of Scotland. With a country so beautiful and its people so welcoming, it’s hard not to fall in
love with Scotland’s spirit.
Grace: The ‘spirit of Scotland’ is the liveliness, the friendliness of the people – beyond just
the red-headed men in kilts image many think of. We’re a nation of innovation, and modern
Scotland is both understanding of the past and tradition but also chooses to look to the
future to develop into the society we want to be.
Who, for you, are the great Scottish children’s writers and illustrators?
Yasmin: I grew up with the likes of Robert Louis Stevenson, so he has to get a mention.
During an internship at Floris Books, I got to work with some really beautiful books. I also
remember being introduced to The Day Boy and the Night Girl by George MacDonald when I
was doing my Publishing MSc at Edinburgh Napier University and loving that – despite never
having heard of it before.
Natalie: The entirety of Mairi Hedderwick’s Katie Morag series is just beautiful and captures
island life and growing up in general so wonderfully. I of course also have to mention the
writer of The Gruffalo – Julia Donaldson – who created a timeless rhyming story.
Lola: I’d have to agree on George MacDonald, whose contributions to the fantasy genre are
also nothing to scoff at, and although Andrew Lang was a collector of fairy tales rather than a
writer, I’d say he gets an honorary mention also. I discovered Anne Anderson during my
undergraduate degree and absolutely fell in love with her beautiful art nouveau children’s
books illustrations. They’re stunning!
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| Lola Gaztañaga Baggen |
Grace: I’m really lucky that in my job I get to work with some rather amazing Scottish talent –
the legendary David Sutherland, who has drawn The Bash Street Kids (from the Beano
comic) since the 1960s! He’s incredibly talented and just ‘gets’ kids – the
fact that the Bash Street Kids have retained their popularity since then is a clear indication of
this! I also grew up on Kenneth Graham’s Wind in the Willows, which I think is one of the best
children’s novels ever written. I also loved Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, and Deb Gliori’s Pure
Dead novels – I got all of these out of the library, and somehow the copy I got was a faux
velvet and gold foil hardback. Being from Glasgow originally, I also remember reading
Divided City by Theresa Breslin – an astounding children’s novel!
Why is it so important that we continue to promote children's books in Scotland?
Natalie: Firstly, Scotland has such a rich literary history and to sustain that we must make
readers and writers whilst they are young. Reading and writing informs everything else, so of
course we must nurture this in young people! Imagination and storytelling are some of the
first creative skills we develop and children’s books are key to these skills. Also, the image
we have of where we grow up is partly influenced by the media created about it – and it’s
always a buzz to see the names of familiar places or events in books and hear them
described – we need more Scotland-based children’s books.
Lola: Although chronically neglected, I think that the books we read as children are the most
important of all. Certainly, they’re the most influential in our development, identity, and
mindset. We are what we read. Stories are vital to the development of empathy and
social skills especially, and they can serve to teach children how to navigate emotional and
practical problems without them even knowing they’re learning. Books also offer an escape
when needed, even if the child is unable to word that need.
Grace: Children’s literature is the foundation of our reading as adults. Children’s books are the
first insight into what reading can be, and once a child has found that wonder, they don’t want
to stop. Children’s literature is wonderfully inventive and innovative, in a way that
adult literature sometimes isn’t, and children who read are more empathetic and caring than
their counterparts, and definitely more understanding of differences. There are so many
reasons that we need to promote children’s literature more, especially in Scotland.
What would you like to see from children's publishing in Scotland?
Natalie: I would like to see more fantasy series for advanced readers, like Caroline Logan’s
Four Treasures series, which uses Scottish mythology at its centre – there is a gap for
more fiction based in Scotland or with Scottish roots to engage young people who
are seeking longer and more complex books.
Lola: I would love to see more books which present villains children are likely to face in their
own environment. While there’s nothing wrong with toppling evil regimes and cold-blooded
witches, I love it when children’s fiction addresses the wide range of real threats children face
through villains that boil down to manipulative or even emotionally abusive family members,
harmful teachers or authority figures, or neglect. Doing so subtly and realistically, rather than
parodically, allows the child to subconsciously learn to pick up on harmful patterns of
behaviour and better identify, understand, and tackle them. While not Scottish, a brilliant
example is the work of Diana Wynne Jones, especially Fire and Hemlock and the
Chrestomanci series, and I’d love to see similar fantasy projects navigate real childhood
threats, with Scottish roots.
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| Fine Mayer |
Fine: Scottish children’s books have a beautiful habit of engaging with the country’s history
and folklore, from unicorns and kelpies to real historic events. Writing these stories with such
a strong traditional influence based in their own country has really allowed the Scottish
children’s book scene to thrive. However, I have found that certain age brackets are more
successful at this than others. While there are plenty of middle-grade books by Scottish
authors, it seems that many of the Young Adult novels based on Celtic traditions come from
overseas, and I’d love to see Scottish writers and publishers tackle that particular field!
Grace: I’d love to see more books that tackle the issues that children are facing in Scotland
today – Jacqueline Wilson obviously does a great job of this on a UK scale – but I would love
to see specifically Scottish problems addressed (independence, accentism, the decline of
Scots and Gaelic as well as our traditional working class industries and its effect on modern-
day society). We have influences from all around the world in all aspects of our culture
(haggis pakora, anyone?), and that should be reflected back in our books, especially for
children.
You can find SYP Scotland online: https://thesyp.org.uk/scotland/ / Twitter / Insta
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