Sean Shannon, a freelance writer and English teacher, is among the finalists for this year’s Dundee International Book Prize for her unpublished novel The Prostitutes of Lake Wobegon. The Dundee International Book Prize is the United Kingdom’s premier competition for emerging authors, with the winning author receiving £10,000 (approximately US $15,800) and a publication deal in the British Commonwealth for the winning novel.
Submissions to this year’s competition increased nearly 400% from the previous year’s total, in large part due to the publicity the competition gained with the appointment of Stephen Fry as a judge for this year’s final rounds. Fry is best known for his work with Hugh Laurie, the star of Fox’s hit TV show House, as the groundbreaking comedy team Fry and Laurie.
“It is a tremendous honor to be shortlisted for such a prestigious prize,” Shannon said. “I don’t think it’s really set in yet. I’m anticipating the judges’ decision and hope that The Prostitutes of Lake Wobegon eventually wins the award.”
The Prostitutes of Lake Wobegon is a literary comedy about a North Dakota librarian who moves to small-town Minnesota and finds that the library she applies for work at doubles as a clandestine high-class brothel. An excerpt from the novel is now available, along with excerpts from the other shortlisted novels, as a free e-book at Amazon.com.
Shannon is a graduate of the University of Toledo (B.A. in Creative Writing, M.A. in English Literature) where she studied fiction under Jane Bradley (You Believers, Are We Lucky Yet?). She has previously taught at the University of Toledo and Monroe County Community College.
Additional information on Sean Shannon can be found at http://www.seanshannon.org/.
Additional information about the Dundee International Book Prize can be http://www.dundeebookprize.com/.