Graduate nominated for book award

Published On Wed 5 Aug 2015 by Grant Hill

Oliver Langmead, a graduate of the Creative Writing programme at the University of Dundee, has been shortlisted for The Guardian’s Not the Booker Prize 2015.

His debut novel, Dark Star, is one of six books in contention for the award following a public vote on the best new texts of the past year. The judging panel will now pore over the shortlisted entries and decide on a winner of the prize.

Oliver (26) graduated with distinction from the MLitt in Writing Practice and Study programme at Dundee in 2013 having previously obtained a law degree from the University. Originally from Edinburgh, he now lives in Dundee.

Dark Star is a blend of science fiction, crime drama and epic verse. It is set deep in humanity's future in the city of Vox, which is situated on a planet orbiting a lightless sun. Darkness lies at the heart of the book and the characters are defined by their weakness rather than their strengths. It has won Oliver plaudits for his vision and ambition and he will be discussing the book at the Dundee Literary Festival in October.

Oliver said, “I’m absolutely delighted to get this recognition and it’s great for Dark Star. It’s such an unusual, non-mainstream book and is published by a small, indie publisher so it all helps to get its name out there. I’m currently working on another book but it will be nothing like Dark Star. It’s such a challenging style that I don’t have it in me to write a sequel!”

Not the Booker Prize was established as an alternative to the Man Booker prize and in response to accusations of elitism. After inviting nominations from the public the organisers whittle these down to a longlist of 70, which the public then vote for in order to determine the finalists. By allowing the public to vote for their favourite book it allows them to champion work from a broader field and that doesn’t fit the Man Booker’s criteria.

Oliver’s book will go up against Fishnet by Kirstin Innes, The Artificial Anatomy of Parks by Kat Gordon, The Good Son by Paul McVeigh, Things We Have in Common by Tasha Kavanagh and Shame by Melanie Finn for the award.

Kirsty Gunn, Professor of Creative Writing at the University and herself an award-winning writer, said, “We're delighted for Oliver, who becomes the second of our MLitt Writing Practice and Study students to be shortlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker Prize after Zoe Venditozzi reached this stage with her debut novel Anywhere's Better Than Here in 2013.

“We've also just found out that one of our very first undergraduate creative writers, Mark Smith, is short-listed for the Kelpies Prize 2015. All of this is testament to the programme we offer here in Writing Practice and Study and to the imagination and hard work of our students at the University and we’re ecstatic for them both.”

More information about Oliver’s book can be found at http://www.unsungstories.co.uk/dark-star-by-oliver-langmead/.

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