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A gritty crime novel has been unveiled as the winner of this year’s
Dundee International Book Prize, a collaboration between the University
of Dundee, Polygon and the newly unveiled ‘One City, Many
Discoveries’ campaign.
Local writer Chris Longmuir has secured a publishing deal and will be
awarded the £10,000 prize, the highest in the UK for an unpublished
writer, for her fiction novel Dead Wood which is set in Dundee and
uncovers the terrifying truth behind a serial killer who seems to take
his fatal inspiration from the Templeton Woods murders of 1980.
The presentation of her award will be made by journalist and writer
Magnus Linklater at a gala dinner tonight (Friday 26th June) in front of
an audience of industry experts, shortlisted writers and sponsors of the
prize.
Winning writer, Chris Longmuir, is an unpublished crime novelist as
well as a published short story and article writer. Born in Wiltshire,
Chris has lived in Scotland since the age of two and resides in Angus.
She formed a lifelong addiction to the written word in early childhood
and has long dreamt of seeing her own book published. Her short stories
have appeared in ‘My Weekly’, ‘People’s Friend’, ‘Dark
Horizons’ and small press anthologies, and she has had articles and
reviews published widely.
Chris left school without any qualifications when she was fifteen, but
obtained an Open University Degree at the age of forty and a
postgraduate qualification in Social Work two years later. She has
recently acquired a qualification in criminology.
Dead Wood ’s main protagonist, Kara, has a debt to pay and turns to
prostitution. On a job, she encounters murder victims - a grizzly find
that leads her deep into a world of violence, gangland retribution and
far away from her beloved children.
Dead Wood is now published by Edinburgh-based Polygon (an imprint of
Birlinn Ltd) and is on sale from today (see http://www.birlinn.co.uk/
for details).
More than 130 writers from across the globe submitted manuscripts for
consideration by the judges. From this year, the Prize will be held
annually and the winner announced each year at the Dundee Literary
Festival in June. Authors will have until November to submit work with
the chance of securing a publishing deal and the cash prize.
Anna Day, University of Dundee and Director of the Dundee Literary
Festival, said: “We had entries from America, Canada, Spain and South
Africa. It’s just bizarre that the winner comes from Angus, near
Dundee. The book will definitely appeal to Dundonians, but its gritty
edge and fast paced story will attract crime readers from
everywhere.”
As part of the new ‘One City, Many Discoveries’ campaign,
Dundonians or anyone with something to say about the city are being
invited to submit their own personal stories or ‘discoveries’ at
www.dundee.com.
Councillor Will Dawson, Convenor of City Development for Dundee City
Council added: “’Dead Wood is a great, gritty read and a worthy
winner of this year’s book prize. As we celebrate Chris’ creativity
and story-telling ability, we also want to make a plea as part of our
new ‘One City, Many Discoveries’ campaign. We’d like to hear from
local residents - or anyone with something to say about Dundee - about
what they think has made the city what it is today. We’ll use these
tales to ‘illuminate’ all that Dundee has to offer.”
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| Link: http://www.dundee.com |
| University of Dundee |
| 26/06/2009 |
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