The Edinburgh International Book Festival opens today, the biggest literary event not just in Scotland, but in Britain - a vast sprawling mass of discussion and ideas which, over the next two weeks will draw more than 750 writers into the city.

The Times is delighted once again to be co-sponsor, with its sister paper The Sunday Times, of this great event, whose colour and vibrancy makes it the most distinctive in Edinburgh. International as it is, the strong cultural contribution of Scotland's own writers gives it its unique character.

But what does that amount to? Is there still a separate Scottish literature, or it simply part of the wider literary canon, a body of work which happens to be written by Scots?

To celebrate Scotland's contribution to world literature - and perhaps half-answer the question - The Times asked Scottish writers attending the festival to nominate their top five Scottish novels of the past 50 years.

The result offers a remarkable panorama of literary invention, stretching from the dark narrative of Eric Linklater, to William Boyd's hilarious and heartbreaking “autobiography” of John James Todd. There are children's fiction, detective novels, and love stories, books that evoke the grime of industry, and others that conjure up the clear air of the Highlands.

Our selection includes a title by a native Canadian, and more than one novel written by an English-born author; others were penned by Scots who had travelled far beyond the nation's borders. If one thing emerged it was the diversity of what now constitutes Scottish literature. It is a long, long way from Hugh MacDiarmid's dictum that only books written in the Scots dialect could conceivably be classified as Scottish writing.

Eleanor Thom's choices illustrate that diversity. She has chosen a children's novel, J K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philospher's Stone, and Glister, by John Burnside - “So creepy the little hairs on my arms were on end for days”.

Richard Holloway, the festival's guest director, warmly endorsed the choices as the best of Scotland, adding: “There is no such thing as everywhere, only somewhere. Scotland accesses universality by digging into its own cultural and historical DNA.”

The only dissenter was Alasdair Gray, himself the author of what would unquestionably be included in any list of the greatest novels of the past 50 years - Lanark. He thought that the time was not yet ripe for a proper assessment of who endure to join the ranks of Smollet, Scott, Galt, Hogg and Stevenson.

No single book emerged as the clear winner, which was, in its way, a satisfactory result. But two writers, Muriel Spark and Alasdair Gray, came out on top with Spark nominated four times and Gray thrice. There were notable runners-up in William McIlvanney, James Kelman, A.L. Kennedy, Janice Galloway and Jackie Kay. In sum, they are what Scotland is about, and we shall hear a great deal more of them over the next two weeks.

ALLAN MASSIE

Eric Linklater: The Dark of Summer

Muriel Spark: The Only Problem

William McIlvanney: The Kiln

William Boyd: The New Confessions

Ronald Frame: The Lantern-Bearers

A.L. KENNEDY

Alasdair Gray: Lanark

Alistair MacLeod: No Great Mischief

William McIlvanney: Laidlaw

Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

James Kelman: The Bus Conductor Hines

JEN HADFIELD

Andrew Greig: Electric Brae

Jackie Kay: Trumpet

Elspeth Barker: O Caledonia

Alan Warner: Morvern Callar

Betsy Whyte: The Yellow on the Broom

ELEANOR THOM

John Burnside: Glister

Jon McGregor: If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things

JK Rowling: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Janice Galloway: This is Not About Me

Jason Donald: Choke Chain

SUYHAL SAADI

Alasdair Gray: Lanark

Ali Smith: Hotel World

AL Kennedy: Paradise

Janice Galloway: Clara

Jackie Kay: Trumpet

JAMES ROBERTSON

Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Gordon Williams: From Scenes Like These

James Kennaway: Silence

Robin Jenkins: A Would-Be Saint

Jeff Torrington: Swing Hammer Swing!

RICHARD HOLLOWAY

Muriel Spark: The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

Alasdair Gray: Lanark

James Kelman: How Late it Was, How Late

A.L.Kennedy: Day

William Boyd: Any Human Heart

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