Derrick Daniel Dillon (born 8 June 1960) is a Scottish writer. He was Writer-in-Residence at Castlemilk from 1998-2000. He is a poet, short story writer, novelist, dramatist, broadcaster, screenwriter, and scriptwriter for TV, stage and radio. His books have been published in the US, India, Russia, Sweden, in Catalan, French and Spanish. His poetry has been anthologised internationally.

Early years

He was born in

Coatbridge Coatbridge ( sco, Cotbrig or Coatbrig, gd, Drochaid a' Chòta) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as ...

and studied English literature at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

before becoming a teacher.

Career

His novel ''Me and Ma Gal'' (1995), chronicles a day in the lives of two best friends, Derek and Gal, set against the Coatbridge landscape of slagpits and steelworks, and was shortlisted for the ''Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award'', was included in ''The 100 Greatest Ever Scottish Books'' and won the

World Book Day World Book Day, also known as World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book, is an annual event organized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to promote reading, publishing, and copyrig ...

‘We Are What We Read’ poll for the novel that best describes Scotland today. In ''Six Black Candles'' (2002) (a novel originally written as a play for Birds of Paradise Theatre Company in 1999) the heroine Caroline, who has been deserted by her wayward husband Bobby, finds her sisters embarking on a ritualistic revenge, centered on the six black candles of the title. Des Dillon's play, ''Singin I'm No a Billy He's a Tim'' gained critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2005 and toured Scotland and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 2007. ''Monks'' (2006) was originally published as ''The Big Q'' (2001) and was adapted into play which enjoyed its world premiere in the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh in 2007. ''My Epileptic Lurcher'' (2008) is the story of Manny Riley, a recovering

alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...

and struggling scriptwriter with a serious anger management problem, and his newly adopted lurcher, Bailey, who has

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

. The book is loosely based on Des Dillon's own life, and his

lurcher A lurcher is a cross-bred dog resulting from mating a Greyhound or other sighthound with a dog of another type, commonly a herding dog or a terrier. The lurcher was for hundreds of years strongly associated with poaching; in modern times it ...

(also called Bailey) who has epilepsy.

Awards and honors

His latest award was The Lion and Unicorn prize for the best of Irish and British literature in the Russian Language (2007).

Personal life

Des lives in

Galloway Galloway ( ; sco, Gallowa; la, Gallovidia) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council area of Dumfries and Galloway. A native or i ...

with his wife and dogs.

Published work

*''Sniz Bloody Write'', 1994 *''Me and Ma Gal'' Argyll Publishing, 1995 *''The Big Empty: A Collection of Short Stories'', Argyll Publishing, 1997 *''Duck'' Argyll Publishing, 1998 *''Itchycooblue'' Headline Review, 1999 *''Return of the Busby Babes'' Headline Review, 2000 *''New Writing 10'' (contributor) Picador in Association with the British Council, 2001 *''The Big Q'' Headline Review, 2001 *''Six Black Candles'' Headline, 2002 *''Picking Brambles'' Luath Press, 2003 *''The Glasgow Dragon'' Luath Press, 2004 *''The Blue Hen Novella'' Sandstone Press, 2004 *''Singin I'm No a Billy He's a Tim'' Luath Press, 2005 *''They Scream When You Kill Them'' Luath Press, 2006 *''Monks'', Luath Press, 2007 *''My Epileptic Lurcher'', Luath Press, 2008 *''An Experiment in Compassion'', Luath Press, 2011 *''Yalena;s Leningrad'', Kindle, 2013

References

External links

*http://www.booksfromscotland.com/Authors/Des-Dillon *http://www.list.co.uk/article/2787-me-and-ma-gal-des-dillon-1995/
Des Dillon official author website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dillon, Des Living people People from Coatbridge 1960 births Scottish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Scottish writers People from Dumfries and Galloway