25 June 2010

2010 Dundee International Book Prize Winner Announced

Photo opportunity: 12noon on Friday, June 25th at The Howff, Dundee. The 2010 Dundee International Book Prize winner Alan Wright will be available for interview and pictures.

A dramatic murder mystery set in a Lancashire town during Victorian times has been unveiled as the winner of this year’s Dundee International Book Prize, a collaboration between the University of Dundee, Polygon and Dundee City Council.

Wigan teacher Alan Wright (59) will be awarded the £10,000 prize, the highest in the UK for an unpublished writer, and with it a publishing deal for his debut novel, Act of Murder. The book is set in Alan’s home town in 1894, and centres upon the fictional gruesome murder of entertainer Richard Throstle, who came to town with his wife Georgina and their ghoulish magic lantern show.

The presentation of Alan’s award will be made by David Robinson, Books Editor at The Scotsman, at a gala dinner held at Dundee Apex Hotel from 7.30pm on Friday, June 25th. An audience of industry experts, the other writers who were shotlisted for the award, and sponsors of the prize, will be in attendance.

Earlier that day the book will be launched at Dundee’s Howff burial ground, where Alan will be discussing the novel and be available for photographs.

'I suppose it’s only aspiring writers who can fully understand what winning such a prize means,' he said. 'It was much, much easier to become a published author seventy or so years ago, and it takes an act of great courage from the organisers and sponsors of the Dundee Prize to support new writing in such a positive way.

'Winning the Prize has not only given me the inspiration to continue to write, it has filled me with a deep sense of responsibility. I owe Dundee a great deal, and I’m determined to justify the faith it’s shown in me.

'As for my future plans, I’m writing another murder mystery set in Wigan, but I am also exploring another world from the late Victorian period - that of psychic research, séances and mediums, where murder and the growing fascination with the supernatural should prove an interesting background. The first draft of Murder at the Séance is already complete!'

Alan is an unpublished crime novelist as well as a published short story writer and experienced playwright. His first experience of writing fiction came at the age of six when - inspired by The Dandy and The Beano - he created his own comic, entitled Thrills.

Comics led on to novels, and Alan gained an Honours degree in English at Leeds University before becoming an English teacher. Crime novels, especially those with a historical setting and devious plotting, emerged as his great literary passion and he harboured ambitions of being a writer which he describes as being like 'playing God without the responsibility.'

The first thing Alan had published was a poem in the seventies, and this was followed by him winning a short story competition and being asked to write a musical play to commemorate ten years of twinning between Wigan and the French town of Angers.

The play, Mine Hosts, was set in Victorian Wigan, and concerned a mining disaster with several young boys surviving the explosion and awaiting rescue. This was performed in France and was well received. He subsequently wrote another musical play and had an anthology of Christmas plays published, along with two books of secondary school assemblies.

While working as a teacher, Alan found it difficult to devote sufficient time to writing a book, but his ambition to have a full-length crime novel published never went away.

He says the Dundee International Book Prize, which he found out about on the Internet, allowed him to fulfil a lifetime ambition, and he is incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

Act of Murder appealed to the judges because of its exciting plot and excellent characters. This fantastic Victorian murder mystery is a tale of magic, poisonings and thespians, with some gruesome murders thrown in for good measure.

Sergeant Slevin takes charge of the investigation into Throstle’s murder and finds that, at the Royal Court Theatre, the Morgan-Drew Players theatre troupe harbour many dark secrets.

Act of Murder is now published by Edinburgh-based Polygon (an imprint of Birlinn Ltd) and is on sale from today (see www.birlinn.co.uk/ for details).

More than 110 writers from across the globe submitted manuscripts for consideration by the judges. The competition is 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, Director of the Dundee Literary Festival, said: 'We had entries from New York, Florida, South Africa and all over Europe. It is ironic that Alan’s connection to Dundee, in the form of DC Thomson comics was what sparked his interest in literature, and so he has come full circle in a way.

'The book will appeal to anyone who loves a good crime book. It is gritty, historical, fast paced and brilliantly plotted, and we are sure it will do very well.'

Will Dawson, convener of Dundee City Council's city development committee said, 'The Dundee International Book Prize has become a well established date in the literary calendar which highlights the city's name and abiding love for the written word across the globe.

'The on going success of the prize in attracting high quality unpublished fiction creates a vital link between the city and its creative industries.'

For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
Press Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384768
E-MAIL: g.hill@dundee.ac.uk
MOBILE: 07854 953277