2014 Dundee International Book Prize shortlist announced
Published On Wed 11 Jun 2014 by Grant Hill
Ten debut novelists from the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and the United States are in the running for this year’s Dundee International Book Prize.
The judging panel of broadcaster Kirsty Lang, writer Neil Gaiman, publisher Scott Pack, literary agent Felicity Blunt and writer and critic Stuart Kelly will now cast their eyes over the shortlist, selected from more than 400 entries from across the globe. The entrants are competing for a publishing deal with Cargo Publishing and £10,000, the largest cash prize for unpublished work in the UK.
Extracts of the top ten will shortly be published in print and ebook formats to allow book-lovers to pick their own favourites for the Prize, a collaboration between the University of Dundee, Cargo Publishing and Dundee City Council's 'One City, Many Discoveries' campaign.
The shortlist will now be whittled down to three finalists before the eventual winner is announced at a gala dinner during the annual Dundee Literary Festival in October.
Literary Dundee Director Anna Day said, “We're truly staggered by the quality of the entries for the book prize, which have come from across the globe. Each year I'm amazed by the creativity and effort people put into their writing and we've loved reading them and bringing together a shortlist of ten books.”
Gill Tasker, Joint Managing Director of Cargo, said, “We're delighted that once again the Dundee International Book Prize has seen strong entries from all over the world. Our congratulations go to all the finalists and we're very excited at the prospect of publishing the winner later this year.”
Will Dawson, Convener of Dundee City Council's city development committee, said, "Dundee's position on the world literary map has been well and truly cemented by the Book Prize and to have a short list made up of writers from three continents speaks volumes about the reach of the prize, the city and the positive reputation that has been developed."
The 2013 winner was Irish writer Nicola White with ‘In The Rosary Garden’, a crime thriller inspired by a notorious true case of infanticide in Ireland in the 1980s that best-selling author Val McDermid described as “a mesmerising tale of secrets and lies”.
The shortlist for the 2014 Dundee International Book Prize is:
• A Village Drowned – Sheena Lambert (Dublin, Ireland)
• Some Things the English – Rachel J Fenton (Auckland, New Zealand)
• Ida – Amy Mason (Bristol, England)
• Daughters of the House of Love – Veronica Birch (West Country, England)
• Under the Tamarind Tree – Rosaliene Bacchus (California, USA)
• The Open Arms of the Sea – Jasper Dorgan (Wiltshire, England)
• The Dreaming – Suzy Norman (London, England)
• Out Like a Lion – Robin Martin (New York, USA)
• Cats in a Pipe – Lora Hughes (Yorkshire, England)
• Sea Never Dry – Ben East (Virginia, USA)
For media enquiries contact:
Grant Hill
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University of Dundee
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