The inaugural 9th Art Awards at the Edinburgh Book Festival’s Stripped event were announced last night, with Stephen Collins’ excellent ‘The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil‘ beating out considerable competition from the other books on the shortlist: Gigantic Beard follows the life of ordinary Dave, who likes nothing more than a night in sketching the everyday life passing by in boring monotony and predictable order outside his window. He lives in a world of order, on the perfectly shaped island of Here, where everyone looks inwards, always the same, monotony and order leading to a life of boredom and conformity. Until the beard comes along. The evil beard. The book is…