A NORTH-East author has won an inaugural literary prize.
Benjamin Myers was named the winner of the first Gordon Burn Prize at Durham Book Festival at the weekend, for his novel Pig Iron.
The book explores the legacy of coal mining and Margaret Thatcher on the North-East.
It was chosen for the prize, named after award-winning Newcastle-born novelist Gordon Burn who died of cancer in 2009 aged 61, by a judging panel of novelist David Peace, journalist Deborah Orr and broadcaster Mark Lawson.
Ms Orr said: “In Pig Iron, Benjamin Myers’ most recent novel, I think we have alighted on a work that captures the spirit of the Gordon Burn Prize perfectly, which is good.
“This being the inaugural award, it was very important for us to start as we mean to go on.
“I think Gordon would have liked this book very much.”
Mr Myers now lives in Calderdale, West Yorkshire. He wins £5,000 and a writing retreat of up to three months at Mr Burn’s Berwickshire cottage.
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