Aspiring author Dan Mooney has been announced as the winner of the Luke Bitmead Writer’s Bursary 2016 in an award ceremony in Central London on Friday 28th October.

Dan Mooney received a cheque for £2,500 as well as a publishing contract with Legend Press for his debut novel Me Myself and Them. The novel will be published in June 2017. Three additional prizes were awarded on the night – second place was awarded to Beyond Ironopolis by Glen James Brown, third place was given to Lochwall by Patricia Holland and Monsoons and Marigolds by Kriss Nichol was highly-commended.

Previous winners of the award are: Andrew Blackman in 2008 for On the Holloway Road, Ruth Dugdall in 2009 for The Woman Before Me, Sophie Duffy in 2010 for The Generation Game, J.R. Crook in 2011 for Sleeping Patterns, Joanne Graham in 2012 for Lacey’s House, Jo Gatford in 2013 for White Lies, Tara Guha in 2014 for Untouchable Things and Lyn Farrell in 2015 for The Wacky Man.

The Luke Bitmead Bursary was set up by Luke Bitmead’s family in association with Legend Press in 2006, shortly after Luke’s tragic death at the age of just 34 and the publication of his novel, White Summer. Since launch it has grown to be the UK’s leading prize for unpublished writers.

The winners were chosen from a shortlist of ten authors by a judging panel of authors Katie Fforde and Sam Mills, Luke Bitmead’s mother Elaine Hanson, and Tom Chalmers, Lauren Parsons and Lucy Chamberlain from Legend Press.