TOM BENN chats to Paul Burke about his quasi-crime novel OXBLOOD, teaching creative writing, book prizes, being/not being a film maker and avoiding the nostalgic postcard.
Oxblood: Wythenshawe, South Manchester. 1985. The Dodds family once ruled Manchester's underworld; now the men are dead, leaving three generations of women trapped in a house haunted by violence, harbouring an unregistered baby and the ghost of a murdered lover.
Over the course of a few days, Nedra, Carol and Jan must each confront the true legacy of the men who have defined their lives; and seize the opportunity to break the cycle for good.
TOM BENN's first novel The Doll Princess was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Portico Prize, and longlisted for the CWA's John Creasey Dagger. Benn's creative nonfiction has appeared in the Paris Review and he won the BFI's iWrite scheme for emerging screenwriters. His first film Real Gods Require Blood premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Best Short Film at the BFI London Film Festival. Oxblood was awarded the 2022 Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award and was longlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize. Originally from Stockport, he teaches on the UEA Crime Fiction Creative Writing MA and lives in Norwich.
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Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network. He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2023.
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