A SCOTTISH writer's debut novel was won a a major UK literary prize.
Kirstin Innes’s first novel Fishnet has scooped the Guardian's 'Not the Booker' Prize for 2015.
The book, about a woman's search for her missing sister, delves into the twilight world of sex workers in Glasgow and came top of the Guardian's list following a public vote.
Kirstin said: "I can't quite believe this has happened. Fishnet was up against some utterly brilliant novels, so it's mind-blowing to have won both stages of the competition.
"I hope this prize can bring a little bit more attention to some of the issues I wanted to address with the book. Huge thanks to the judging panel and to the people who participated in the public vote."
Chairman of the Judges, Sam Jordinson, said: "Fishnet is a fine novel. It possibly wasn’t the most polished and complete literary work on the list, but there is some excellent writing in there, as well as real emotional and political urgency.
"It’s gripping, it’s humane and it’s the kind of novel that can actually make you investigate your own prejudices and opinions. I know it challenged a few of my ideas about prostitution and the vulnerability, or otherwise, of sex workers."
While not writing novels, Kirstin is a freelance writer and journalist who also works in public relations for arts groups.
She previously won the Allen Wright Award for Excellence in Arts Journalism in 2007 & 2011, and writes for the Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, the Herald, the List and the Independent.
Fishnet is published by Glasgow-based Freight Books.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here