A NUMBER of respondents to the Jan Fairley Memorial Award have asked about the timescale and judging process.

We had anticipated that the panel would be able to gather in January for a decision by the end of the month – but the busyness of the New Year, conflicting schedules, cold weather and a touch of illness has mean that things have been delayed a little.

However, we are now pleased to report that the judges, convened by Edinburgh-based arts writer and social commentator Joyce McMillan (pictured), who is also chair of the Edinburgh Freelance Branch of the NUJ, will be gathering tomorrow after email discussion.

The chair of our panel is Professor Simon Frith from the Reid School of Music at the University of Edinburgh, a highly respected and well-known academic and journalist, whose books appropriately include Living Politics, Making Music: The Writings of Jan Fairley (Ashgate Press, 2014).

Others joining them on the judging panel are John Hewitt Jones (NUS Scotland Student Journalist of the Year 2014); widely-published writer and journalist Jackie Kemp;  music editor Claire Sawers from The List magazine, Brian McGuire, well-known for his work on the Edinburgh Evening News; and Simon Barrow, commentator, writer and co-director of the thinktank Ekklesia.