Dundee book prize

The three writers shortlisted for the 2004 Dundee Book Prize are to be announced at a dinner on board Captain Scott's ship RRS Discovery in late September, with Scotland's best selling crime writer Ian Rankin as guest of honour. Deputy Principal Professor Geoff Ward will host the evening.

The three winners of Dundee Book Prize 2004 will have their work published by Polygon, the Birlinn imprint of best-selling author Alexander McCall Smith. The overall winner, to be announced next spring, will go on to receive a £6,000 cash prize.

Dundee Book Prize is now established as Scotland's leading prize for up and coming novelists. Entries came from as far afield as Canada, Germany, Australia, Spain, Wales, Ireland and England as well as throughout Scotland and from Dundee itself.

The prize is sponsored by the University, the City of Discovery Campaign and Polygon. Staff at the department of English have played a key role in the judging process, helping with the colossal task of reading the 240 manuscripts entered for the prize. "The Department of English have done a tremendous job. We owe a great deal to their expertise, their diligence and their enthusiasm" said Carol Pope who leads the University's input to the prize.

The three finalists' manuscripts will now be circulated to selected book groups who will choose the outright winner.