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Thurso-based writer wins prestigious Scottish Arts Trust prize for short story





A SHORT story, written by Mike Lunan from Thurso, has won a prestigious prize in a contest run by the Scottish Arts Trust.

He received the Isobel Lodge award which is presented to unpublished writers living in Scotland. Mike was "surprised" to win the prize but was particularly pleased to win the Isobel Lodge award as she came from Thurso where Mike and his wife, Peggy, have lived for the past 17 years.

He said: "I was invited to the award ceremony and dinner in Edinburgh and planned to go but about 48 hours before the event my wife took ill and I could not go. I was disappointed not to be there but there was nothing I could do about it."

Mike received £750 and an engraved plaque for winning the prize.

His short story, which runs to around 750 words, will be published in a Scottish Arts Trust book in early November.

Mike Lunan won the Isobel Lodge prize
Mike Lunan won the Isobel Lodge prize

Evening in the Tropics features a group of elderly people who travel to Africa to die. The story tells how that happens.

Mike, a former chairman of the Friends of the Far North Line campaign group, described the work as "bleak" and said he has no idea what inspired it when he wrote it about two years ago.

He has written a number of short stories and one of his family suggested he should enter a competition so he put four into a contest run by the Scottish Arts Trust.

Evening in the Tropics made it to the short list and was chosen as the winner in the unpublished writers in Scotland category.

The chairman of the judging panel was renowned Scottish author, Ian Rankin, who comes from Cowdenbeath which is close to Mike's home town of Kirkcaldy.

"I was surprised to win the award as it was the first time I have ever won a prize for anything," he said.

He is retired but worked as an actuary –a business professional who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty – and enjoys writing short stories, compiling crosswords and listening to music.

Isobel Lodge was born in Thurso in 1947 and graduated from Aberdeen University before studying children's theatre in Southport. She worked as a social worker in Edinburgh for 30 years but brought her talents as an actress and a writer/director to many drama clubs for children and to local Christmas pantomimes in the Scottish capital.

In retirement, she took up the pen again and began writing short stories and poetry and became an active member of the Scottish Arts Club –run by the Trust – and joined its writers’ group. In her honour, her family and friends set up a memorial fund which champions new Scottish writing with an annual short story award.


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