Terry Pratchett announced the winner of his first Terry Pratchett Anywhere but Here, Anywhen but Now First Novel Prize. The £20,000 prize will be split between two winners, both of whom will receive publishing contracts from co-sponsor Transworld. As reported in the Guardian, Pratchett “has chosen a story of sex-crazed zombie cows and an Iain Banks-esque coming-of-age novel as the joint winners of his inaugural award.”
The two winners, who are not related to each other, share the same last name. Announcing the winners, Pratchett said “It was a long deliberation and although to some it might seem a cop-out to split a prize, we decided that since the existence of the prize was to find new talent then this was the happiest decision to make. David Logan’s Half Sick of Shadows and Michael Logan’s Apocalypse Cow both stood out in their different ways and I wish their creators the best of luck in their writing careers.”
Half Sick of Shadows is “a darkly atmospheric, richly written coming-of-age novel in the spirit of Iain Banks’s The Wasp Factory,” said Transworld, while Apocalypse Cow is the story of a group of social misfits thrown together after the government accidentally unleashes an experimental bioweapon, “with peculiar repercussions for Britain’s farm animals”.
Scottish-born Michael Logan, who lives in Kenya, said “Ever since I wrote my first short story at the age of eight, it has been my dream to become an author—although the idea for a novel about sex-crazed zombie cows did come a little later. The full impact of attaining a lifelong goal has yet to fully sink in. I’m sure it will hit me on the way home, when I will bemuse all around me by performing a victorious knee-slide across the concourse at Gatwick.”
Northern Ireland inhabitant David Logan said he felt “very lucky” to win. “I am disappointed for the runners-up. The difference between winning and losing is a hair’s breadth.”
Related articles previously published on SFScope:
Shortlist announced for first Terry Pratchett Anywhere but Here, Anywhen but Now First Novel Prize (1 April 2011)
Terry Pratchett first novelists Prize announced; submission deadline is December (21 June 2010)