Northern Ireland writer nominated for prize

14 November 2008 -

Fans of literature in Northern Ireland should pick up Brasyl, a novel written by Ian McDonald, who has been shortlisted for the Warwick Prize for Book Writing.

Mr McDonald has written several science fiction novels, including Desolation Road, King of the Morning, Queen of the Night, Kirinya and Chaga.

Brasyl is a story split into three, which starts in the shanty towns of Rio de Janeiro and tells the tale of a television presenter in search of a disgraced goalkeeper in modern Brazil, before focusing on an entrepreneur who investigates conspiracies in the year 2032.

The final third of the tale travels back to the Amazon in the 1700s, where a priest and a scientist try and thwart a sinister plan by a member of the cloth and discover many mysterious goings-on in the jungle.

Bringing together the work of political scientists, novelists, mathematicians, economists and historians, the Warwick Prize for Book Writing presents the best piece of literature with a £50,000 award.