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Janet Coats Black

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Janet Coats Black (15 February 1844 – 15 November 1918) was a Scottish poet, philanthropist, and the founder of the James Tait Black prize, Britain's longest running literary award.

Biography

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Janet Coats was born in Paisley in 1844 to Thomas Coats and Margaret Glen,[1] and was a member of the J. & P. Coats family, renowned for thread-making.[2]

She married James Tait Black in Paisley in 1884.[3] The couple moved to London in 1889. following the move of her husband's publishing house.[1]

In 1899, Coats Black published a volume of poetry, titled Verses and Rhymes.[2]

She died on 15 November 1918 aged 74.[3] In addition to her bequest leading to the establishment of the James Tait Black literary prizes, her will included a bequest of £20,000 for a charitable fund named for her mother, a £10,000 endowment to the Thomas Coats Memorial Church in Paisley, and an endowment to finance the libraries of the Northern Lighthouse Keepers.[1]

Legacy

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James Tait Black Prize

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The James Tait Black Prizes originate from a bequest by Janet Coats Black to commemorate her husband James Tait Blacks's love of books. She specified the prize categories of the award, which first took place in 1919.[2]

Janet Coats Black prize

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To mark the centenary of the James Tait Black prizes in 2019, the University of Edinburgh presented the additional Janet Coats Black prize for short story writing by a matriculated postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh.[4]

Janet Coats Memorial Prize

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The Paisley Book Festival hosts the annual poetry prize, the Janet Coats Memorial Prize.[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Ewan, Elizabeth, ed. (2018). The new biographical dictionary of Scottish women. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-1-4744-3629-8. OCLC 1057237368.
  2. ^ a b c "The legacy of Janet Coats Black". The University of Edinburgh. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  3. ^ a b "Book review: Marking the Centenary of the Woman who founded Scotland's Longest Running Literary Prizes: Janet Coats Black". The National. 11 November 2018. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  4. ^ "Janet Coats Black prize". The University of Edinburgh. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 2022-08-04.
  5. ^ "Janet Coats Memorial Prize". Paisley Book Festival. Retrieved 2022-08-04.