A Writer's Guide to Dundee

Central Library houses the Local History Centre, a Leisure Reading Centre and the Creative Central space, and it runs reading groups. It opens late on weekdays. Sundays it is closed.

The Local History Centre holds more than 20,000 items on Dundee and the surrounding area, from books and pamphlets to directories. The Lamb Collection fills 450 archive boxes, mostly late-19th-century ephemera, and the William McGonagall Collection gathers works by and about McGonagall. Scottish music is in the Wighton Heritage Centre annex. Order newspaper volumes at least 24 hours before you come.

The Broughty Ferry branch has Wi-Fi, computers with free internet access and reading groups. The Bookhouse on Gray Street is in Broughty Ferry too. The library closes on Sundays.

Everyone is welcome to use the University of Dundee's archives. Holdings include the Baxter Brothers jute records and university papers such as the D'Arcy Thompson material. Search the online catalogue, then email for an appointment with the reference numbers you want. Bring ID on your first visit to register for a reader ticket.

Members of the public can apply online for external membership of the University's Main Library, and fees may apply. Bring proof of identity when you collect the card. You need it at the entry gates.

The Bookhouse is a family-run bookshop for adults and children, in Broughty Ferry since 2020 after opening in Monifieth in 2017. It runs eight book clubs and hosts author events for local schools and the wider community. Look for signed and indie-exclusive editions. It opens Monday to Saturday.

Lost Galaxy sells comics and graphic novels alongside board games and miniatures, and it holds event nights. For anyone writing comics in the city of the Beano and the Dandy, it is a useful stop.

Topping is an independent bookseller with shops in Bath, Edinburgh, Ely and York as well as St Andrews. Its author events run all year, and the shop offers in-store Coffee with a Bookseller consultations. It is open daily.

Empire State Coffee is the café of a Dundee-born roaster, near the waterfront and the V&A. It opens daily from early morning. The Courier's guide to remote-working cafés notes comfortable seating, with extra seats in the basement.

V&A Dundee, Scotland's design museum, is free to enter and has free Wi-Fi. Its restaurant, Tatha Bar & Kitchen, serves food through the day, and the museum is open daily.

Blend is a coffee and tea lounge serving pastries and panini. The Courier's remote-working guide calls it spacious, with many tables and plug sockets. It opens daily and stays open late on Fridays.

Dundee Espresso Lab serves hand-roasted organic coffee with focaccia, gluten-free cakes and traditional Italian desserts. The Courier's remote-working guide notes good Wi-Fi and plenty of tables. It is open daily.

Jute is the café bar of Dundee Contemporary Arts, which also houses galleries and cinemas. It serves breakfast, lunch and coffee by day, and the menus change with the seasons. You can take your drink into the cinema. It is open daily until late.

Tatha is the V&A's restaurant on the Tay waterfront, serving scones, pastries, lunch and afternoon tea in museum hours.

The McManus is Dundee's free art gallery and museum. Its café serves sandwiches, soup, cakes and coffee seven days a week.

Dundee Rep and Scottish Dance Theatre work as one company, staging new plays and new dance. The kitchen makes its dishes in house from local ingredients. The restaurant menu is served before every performance, matinees included, and the daytime café opens Wednesday to Saturday.

Leisure & Culture Dundee runs this celebration of writers and reading at venues across the city. Its programme mixes new fiction and poetry with writing workshops and children's events.

Scottish Universities Press is a not-for-profit, fully open access book publisher, developed by 20 academic libraries and coordinated through SCURL, the Scottish Confederation of University and Research Libraries. Its books are freely available. It publishes researchers from any UK university.

The Royal Society of Edinburgh funds research in every discipline, for people at every stage of their careers. Its awards range from Small Research Grants to Personal Research Fellowships. Collaboration grants and international visits are on the list too.

DC Thomson is a family-owned Dundee publisher with a 200-year heritage. Its newspapers include The Courier and The Sunday Post. The People's Friend and The Scots Magazine are among its magazines, and its comics run from Beano and Oor Wullie to Commando.

Neural Computing and Applications is a Springer Nature journal for original research on practical applications of neural computing, from genetic algorithms and fuzzy logic to machine learning and intelligent control. Its editor-in-chief is a visiting professor of artificial intelligence at Abertay University in Dundee. Preparing an article for Neural Computing and Applications

Creative Scotland's Open Fund for Individuals supports freelance and self-employed artists and creative practitioners aged 18 or over who live in Scotland. Applications are taken year-round.

Scottish Book Trust runs the New Writers Awards each year for emerging writers. Awardees receive a cash award and mentoring, along with a week-long writing retreat. Categories run from fiction and non-fiction to spoken word and children's writing. Two Gaelic awards are run with the Gaelic Books Council.

The Saltire Society gives Scotland's national book awards each year for books published in the previous twelve months. There are prizes in fiction, non-fiction, poetry and research, with debut awards in the first three.

The Edwin Morgan Trust gives this award every two years, funded by the poet's bequest. It is open to poets under 30 who were born, raised or live in Scotland and have yet to publish a full-length collection.

This page lists scholarships, writing prizes and writing resources at the University of St Andrews, about 13 miles from Dundee.

Dundee Contemporary Arts' print studio is open to everyone. It has a Victorian relief press and a laser cutter, and it offers taster sessions, one-to-one tuition and courses that include hardcover bookbinding. Finish a course or an induction and you can book the studio as a Registered User.

The University's Print Unit serves the general public as well as staff and students. It binds theses and does soft, hardback and wire binding. Public customers pay by cash or card. For level access, use the rear entrance off Well Road.