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Dead Wood
03 July 09
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writer Chris Longmuir has secured a publishing deal and will be awarded the £10,000 prize, the highest in the UK for an unpublished writer, for her fiction novel Dead Wood which is set in Dundee and uncovers the terrifying truth behind a serial killer who seems to take his fatal inspiration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.
Winning writer, Chris Longmuir, is an un-published 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 Woodis now published by Edinburgh-based Polygon (an imprint of Birlinn Ltd) and is on sale now (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 http://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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