Dunde International Book Prize Winner Announced
The winner of the Dundee International Book Prize 2015 has been announced as Martin Cathcart Froden, for his debut novel “Devil Take The Hindmost”.
The winner of the Dundee International Book Prize 2015 has been announced as Martin Cathcart Froden, for his debut novel “Devil Take The Hindmost”.
Martin receives a prize of £10,000 and a publishing deal with Freight Books after emerging from an intensely competitive field of almost 500 entries.
“I am absolutely over the moon!” said an elated Martin. “Winning the Dundee International Book Prize is a dream come true. It's one of those life-changing surprises. I am so, so happy.”
Originally from Sweden, Martin has lived in Canada, Israel, Argentina and London and worked as a drummer, avocado picker, sound engineer, magazine editor and greengrocer, as well as teaching English in prisons. His fiction has been shortlisted for various awards including the Bridport Prize, and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. He recently completed a Masters in Creative Writing at Glasgow University, where he will be starting his doctoral studies in 2015.
His winning novel, `Devil Take The Hindmost’ is set in London in the 1920s and centres on a cyclist so fast criminals want him: to win races, to stage losses and to run important messages. It revolves around velodrome racing and the small, impossible choices that a life is built from – or destroyed by.
Award-winning crime writer Denise Mina, one of the competition judges, said, “It was an honour to sit on the panel for this prize. These unpublished manuscripts were variously moving, well plotted and brilliantly observed. This prize gives you a sense of all the fantastic, undiscovered work out there.”
Dundee International Book Prize is a collaboration between the University of Dundee’s Literary Dundee initiative, Freight Books and Dundee City Council's 'One City, Many Discoveries' campaign, with the support of Apex Hotels.
Literary Dundee’s Peggy Hughes said, “Martin Cathcart Froden is a worthy winner of the 2015 Dundee International Book Prize. This has been a stellar year for the prize, with tough competition from a very fine shortlist, but Martin's debut was ahead of the pack.”
Will Dawson, convener of Dundee City Council's city development committee and spokesperson for the `Dundee, One City, Many Discoveries’ campaign, said, “The Dundee Book Prize continues to go from strength to strength as demonstrated by the increasing quantity and quality of entries we see rolling in. The international reach of this competition is something we are all incredibly proud of.
“The kudos for winning the prize also increases and this year's winner should be as proud of the accolade as we are of the prize itself.”
Adrian Searle, Publisher, Freight Books, said, “Martin Cathcart Froden has created a unique, compelling noir that combines a literary sensibility with that all-important quality, it’s a real page turner. He brilliantly evokes the seedier side of interwar London. We’re delighted that the Dundee International Book Prize continues to uncover writing of this quality.”
Previous winners of the prize have gone onto enjoy further successes. 2013 winner Nicola White was shortlisted for the prestigious Deanston Scottish Crime Book of the Year 2014, as was 2013 finalist Neil Broadfoot for his debut, Falling Fast, which was published by Saraband.
2012 finalist Pippa Goldschmidt had her shortlisted novel, The Falling Sky, published by Freight Books, and has now published a collection of short stories, The Need for Better Regulation of Outer Space and co-edited I Am Because You Are, a timely collection of new fiction and non-fiction from novelists and science writers, all inspired by the theme of Relativity.