Dundee International Book Prize finalists announced
The finalists for the 2013 Dundee International Book Prize have been announced.
The winner will be presented with with a publishing deal and £10,000 - the largest cash prize for unpublished work in the UK.
Three finalists have been chosen from more than 350 applications.
The judging panel comprises of Brian Cox, Lorraine Kelly, Norman Foster, Claire Alexander and A L Kennedy.
Each judge has read the books and will debate the merits of the three finalists before the winner is announced at the Dundee Literary Festival in October.
This year's finalists are a community worker from Belgium, a former soldier turned wild animal preserve manager and a Dublin-born former Leverhulme Writer in Residence.
An anthology of extracts from all 12 authors who made the shortlist stage of the competition is available as a free eBook online or in hard copy format from Literary Dundee.
The top title will be named as the ninth winner of the Book Prize, organised by the University of Dundee's Literary Dundee initiative, and Dundee City Council's One City, Many Discoveries campaign.
The books that made the final include "Mango" written by Jeff Hayden, "What to do with Lobsters in a Place Like Klippisfontein" by Colette Victor and "In the Rosary Garden" by Nicola White.
Peggy Hughes, of Literary Dundee, said: "We had a huge number of strong entries and the very happy task of narrowing things down to just three.
"Jeff, Colette and Nicola have really grabbed us with their assured and compelling debuts.
"We can't wait to see which one our judges pick to take this year's title."
Will Dawson, convener of Dundee City Council's city development committee, said: "The truly international nature of the entries is certainly reflected in this year's shortlist and the book prize has helped to spread the word about the city's literary and cultural credentials across the globe.
"It is also, of course, part of the great range of things happening in Dundee which has led to the city being shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2017."
The 2012 winner was "The Man Who Wouldn't Stand Up" by Jacob M Appel, a sharply observed post-9/11 novel about patriotism, politics and the media.