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West Newington House
10 Newington Road
Edinburgh
Telephone: 0131 668 4371
Birlinn Limited is composed of a number of imprints.
Birlinn, which publishes mostly non-fiction books, ranging from biography to history, military history and Scottish interest. The name comes from the old Norse word birlinn, meaning a long boat or small galley with 12 to 18 oars, used especially in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland in the Middle Ages.
Polygon which publishes literary fiction and poetry, both classic and modern, from award-winning writers such as James Kelman, Robin Jenkins, Agnes Owens, Norman MacCaig, and the author of The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith. In addition we take great pride in nurturing new writers and in recent years have been delighted to introduce (among many others) Sam Meekings, Helen Fitzgerald, and Monaldi and Sorti to a reading public. Polygon was originally set up by students of Edinburgh University – including a young Gordon Brown - in the late 1960s and became part of Birlinn Limited in 2002.
Mercat Press, founded in 1970, was acquired by Birlinn in 2007 and focuses on walking and climbing guides.
Academic books on all aspects of Scotland are published under the imprint John Donald.
Birlinn Limited Editions, which publishes full-colour limited editions of some of the greatest works ever published, including the Blaeu Atlas, Robert Burns’ Tam o’ Shanter illustrated by Alexander Goudie and The Baronial and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland by RW Billings.
With such a diverse range of imprints, the title output is equally wide-ranging. More than 100 titles are published every year - lavish collectors’ editions alongside local history titles, Gaelic language books, literary fiction, collections of poetry and short stories, and biography. As a result, Birlinn regularly hosts nearly 200 book events a year as well as supporting its authors at book festivals all over the UK.
Birlinn Limited currently has over 1000 titles in print, available across the world.
