A FORMER Barnard Castle resident, now an award-winning writer, has been named as one of the recipients of a prestigious annual arts fellowship.
Philip Miller, who attended Teesdale School, said he was “delighted” at the news he has been named as one of the four recipients for this year’s Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship and residency.
The Robert Louis Stevenson Fellowship, which is supported by the Scottish Book Trust and Creative Scotland, gives Scotland-based writers the time to concentrate on and develop their work.
The month-long residency at the Hotel Chevillon at Grez-sur-Loing, in France, where Stevenson was a frequent visitor in the 1870s, allows writers to spend time with other artists and absorb fresh cultural experiences.
Mr Miller moved to Scotland to attend Edinburgh University.
After graduating, he remained in Scotland, working as a newspaper journalist. For the past 17 years he has been arts correspondent for The Herald, twice being named as arts writer of the year.
In addition to his day job Mr Miller has also penned two novels, The Blue Horse and All The Galaxies. Mr Miller, said: “I was so delighted and surprised to be told I had been chosen for this fellowship.
“My writing time has for many years been squeezed into the gaps between journalism and life, and this brilliant opportunity will give me time and space to concentrate on it alone.
“This is my first residency and I am determined to use it to the full.”
He plans to make some progress on his third book, The Moving Glass.
