Denise Mina

2020 Great Scot Award Honoree

The recipient of the 2020 Great Scot Award is award-winning crime novelist Denise Mina, whose novel Conviction was published to critical acclaim earlier this year.

Mina is known as one of the major figures in the genre of Tartan Noir, which merges the traditions of Scottish literature as practiced by Robert Louis Stevenson and Arthur Conan Doyle with the hard-boiled anti-heroes of American detective fiction.

In addition to Conviction, Mina is the author of the stand-alone true crime reimagining The Long Drop, as well as the Paddy Meehan, Alex Morrow, and Maureen O’Donnell series. She received the John Creasy Memorial Award for best first crime novel for Garnethill and has twice received the Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award.

Kate Taylor

The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA is delighted to welcome Kate Taylor for a musical performance the evening of the gala. Kate Taylor lives year round on Martha’s Vineyard, an island off the coast of Massachusetts. She was raised in Chapel Hill, NC. Her brothers Alex, James, Livingston, and Hugh are also songwriters and performers.

She recorded her first album, “Sister Kate,” in 1971 with Peter Asher. Her second album, “Kate Taylor,” was produced by brother James for Columbia Records and was released in 1976. Her third record, “It’s in There and It’s Got to Come Out,” produced by Barry Beckett, was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and was released in 1978 on Columbia Records.

After starting her family, Kate took time from performing to raise her daughters. She now once again brings her original songs and her favorite covers to her beautiful audiences. Her most recent albums include “Beautiful Road” and “Fair Time!”