A gritty crime novel based on an infamous Dundee murder has been unveiled as the winner of this year’s Dundee International Book Prize, a collaboration between the University of Dundee, Polygon and the newly unveiled ‘One City, Many Discoveries’ campaign.

New writers struggle to get their voices heard but great writing is rewarded with the richest prize for a new novel in the UK with the Dundee International Book Prize, worth £10,000.

The award is for an unpublished novel on any theme, in any genre.

Local writer Chris Longmuir secured a publishing deal and was awarded the £10,000 prize for her 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.

The presentation of her award was made by journalist and writer Magnus Linklater at a gala dinner on Friday 26th June in front of an audience of industry experts, shortlisted writers and sponsors of the prize.

Dundee is increasingly building its reputation as a powerhouse of publishing, with a highly successful literary festival, literary salons, the literary Dundee website and the Saturday Evening Lectures. Yet the prize has international reach – the short listed authors in 2009 come from all corners of the world, including Australia, New Zealand and America.

The previous winners have all gone on to have success and the authors have also gone on to produce further works of fiction and non-fiction. Andrew Murray Scott’s book Tumulus detailed bohemian Dundee through the 60s and 70s to the present day. The winning novel in 2002, Claire-Marie Watson’s The Curewife drew on the tale of Dundee’s last execution of a witch - Grissel Jaffray in 1669 and the winner in 2005 was Malcolm Archibald’s adventure on a whaling ship Whales for the Wizard. 2007 saw French resident Fiona Dunscombe scoop the accolade with her gritty, dark and full of life novel The Triple Point of Water.

It is said that everyone has a book inside them – now is your chance to write it.

For details on the 2010 prize, email Anna Day at literarydundee@gmail.com.