Hold Fast by Catherine Simpson longlisted for The Saltires 2026

Posted on September 23, 2026

We’re delighted that Catherine Simpson has been longlisted for Non-Fiction Book of the Year at The Saltires, Scotland’s National Book Awards, for Hold Fast: Motherhood, my autistic daughter and me.

On being longlisted, Catherine said ‘I am so delighted that my memoir Hold Fast has been longlisted for such a prestigious prize as the Saltire Awards. I hope this helps the book find new readers – especially those struggling with motherhood in the way I did. I am very excited – and I’m about to go and tell my autistic daughter, Nina, and I’m sure she will be too!’

Congratulations to Catherine and all the authors and publishers on the longlist! Read more about the awards here.

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Catherine Simpson is a novelist and memoir writer based in Edinburgh. Her memoir One Body was published by Saraband in 2022 and was selected for World Book Night in 2023 and shortlisted in the Scottish Book Awards. This followed her 2019 memoir When I Had a Little Sister which was published to great critical acclaim: ‘superb’ (Sunday Times) ‘riveting’ (Observer). Her debut novel Truestory was published in 2015 and won her a Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award. Her work has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio Scotland. Her latest book, Sandwiched: Caring Up and Caring Down is out now.