Writer scoops Cork award

A BRITISH writer Simon Van Booy has won the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award for his collection, Love Begins in Winter. The €35,000 prize is the richest in the world for a short story collection.

Speaking at the award ceremony, held at the Stack Theatre at the Cork School of Music, Mr Van Booy said he was surprised and “very, very grateful” to have won.

“I was very nervous coming to Cork for the Frank O’Connor Festival,” he said. “But I stopped being nervous when I read the other short-listed books. I was shocked by the quality of the work, and I knew I had no hope of winning.”