Na Duaisean Litreachais / The Gaelic Literature Awards
Bradan Press is proud to announce that An Cat Coigreach [The Foreign Feline] by June Ghreumach, published in May 2024, has been shortlisted for the 2025 Gaelic Literature Awards, Na Duaisean Litreachais, in the category of Best Book for Children/Youth, Leabhar as Fheàrr do Chloinn/Òigridh!
The winners will be announced at the Duaisean Litreachais awards ceremony on September 16, 2025 in Glasgow.
Author June Ghreumach received the 2019 Scottish Book Trust New Writers Award for Gaelic Childrens’ Fiction in 2019. In 2022, An Cat Coigreach won the award for Best Unpublished Manuscript for Children/Young People / Làmh-sgìobhainn Neo-fhoillsichte as Fheàrr do Chloinn/Òigridh in the Gaelic Literature Awards / Duaisean Litreachais.
June Graham previously worked as a Gaelic Early Years Officer with Comunn nam Pàrant. Her prior work as a climate scientist brought her to Canada and from there to Switzerland. She was born and raised in Glasgow and has family links to the Isle of Skye. June learned Gaelic as an adult and writes in both Gaelic and English.
Author June Ghreumach speaking at the Stornoway book launch of An Cat Coigreach
Read June’s lovely bilingual blog post about bringing Pangur Dubh to life, the book editing process, and the book launch events in May 2024 at the Stornoway Library and the Gaelic Books Council.
June herself created the black and white interior illustrations for the book, while Nova Scotian artist Etta Moffatt created the cover of An Cat Coigreach inspired by June’s work.
There are free An Cat Coigreach themed downloads available for teachers, parents, pupils, and adult Gaelic learners:
- Colouring page A4 for UK, EU, and rest of world (Bradan Press website)
- Colouring page for US Letter for North America) (Bradan Press website)
- Gaelic word search (author’s website)
- Empathy resource (author’s website): Tha tòrr faireachdainnean aig Pangur, ‘An Cat Coigreach’. Tha dà dhuilleag-obrach ann an seo ceangailte ri faireachdainnean. Bhiodh iad iomchaidh a chleachdadh sa chlàs as dèidh do chloinn an leabhar gu lèir a leughadh. / Pangur, the cat in ‘An Cat Coigreach’, experiences lots of feelings. There are two worksheets here on feelings. They would be suitable for using with a class after reading the book.
A colouring sheet of Pangur Dubh from the book launch, available for free download from Bradan Press
An Cat Coigreach: A Gaelic Novel for Children Aged 8–12
In An Cat Coigreach, Pangur Dubh is a black cat living happily with his family in Bern, a beautiful city in Switzerland – until the day they decide to return to Scotland! Now he is a foreign cat in Stornoway in the Isle of Lewis, and the other cats are not being kind to him. Pangur decides to leave the island and return to Bern. Surely his family will return too when the autumn storms start…won’t they? Follow Pangur’s adventures across the country, escaping from one danger after the next, until he learns the importance of friends and family.
’S e cat dubh a th’ ann am Pangur Dubh agus tha e a’ fuireach gu dòigheil leis a theaghlach ann am Bern, baile brèagha san Eilbhis – gus an latha a tha iad a’ cur romhpa tilleadh a dh’Alba! A-nis tha e na chat coigreach ann an Steòrnabhagh, Eilean Leòdhais, agus chan eil na cait eile coibhneil ris idir. Tha Pangur a’ cur roimhe gum fàg e an eilean agus gun till e gu Bern. Agus tillidh a theaghlach cuideachd nuair a thig na stoirmean as t-fhoghar … nach till? Leanaibh na cuairtean-dànach Phangur thar na dùthcha, a’ teicheadh bho chunnart an dèidh cunnart, gus an ionnsaich e cho cudromach ’s a tha càirdean agus teaghlach.
Paperback, 148 pages, 5.25 x 8 inches. Available from Bradan Press in Canada and the USA, from the Gaelic Books Council in the UK, or worldwide from Amazon:
Order from Gaelic Books Council 🏴🇬🇧
An Cat Coigreach le June Ghreumach
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