Scots book prize on a high after Fry tweet

ONE of Scotland’s leading literary prizes has attracted a record entry of more than 400 budding authors – thanks to Stephen Fry’s massive following on Twitter.

Fry, a former rector of Dundee University, is one of the judges for this year’s Dundee International Book Prize, which offers the biggest cash prize for any unpublished work in the country.

The competition – which also includes a publishing deal with Cargo Publishing – is a joint venture between the city council and Dundee University’s Literary Dundee project.

The organisers announced yesterday that this year’s contest has attracted a record 475 entries – almost 400 per cent up on last year’s figure. Anna Day, the director of Literary Dundee, said the calibre of judges, which also include leading authors Philip Pullman and Alan Bissett, had been a major factor in attracting an “amazing” degree of interest.

Ms Day praised Fry for flagging up the prize to his four million Twitter followers. She said: “The growing stature of the Dundee International Prize has obviously played a part, but the panel of judges we have this year has really helped the number of entries rocket.

“Their connections and global reach has helped us reach new markets and I send my sincere gratitude to Stephen Fry for re-tweeting our call for entries as we certainly saw an upsurge as a result.”

Ms Day added: “We have always had an international reach when it comes to entries, but this year that’s more the case than ever. There have been stories sent from Australia, New Zealand, all over America, and from Africa.”

Will Dawson, convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, also welcomed the record breaking entry. He said: “I am delighted that the Dundee International Book Prize continues to go from strength to strength – not only in the quantity of entries but also in the calibre of judges we have been able to attract.”