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 (, ) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, about east of Glasgow city centre, set in the central Lowlands. Along with neighbouring town Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Airdrie, Coatbridge forms the area known as the Monklands (popula ...

and studied English literature at

Strathclyde University The University of Strathclyde () 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 charter in 1964 as the first techn ...

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 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to promote reading, publishing, and copyright ...

‘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 (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

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 the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

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 disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

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

lurcher A lurcher is a Dog crossbreed, crossbred dog resulting from dog reproduction, mating a greyhound or other sighthound with a dog of another Dog type, type such as a herding dog or a terrier. The lurcher is not a "breed," but is a generic descri ...

(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 ( ; ; ) is a region in southwestern Scotland comprising the counties of Scotland, historic counties of Wigtownshire and Kirkcudbrightshire. It is administered as part of the council areas of Scotland, council area of Dumfries and Gallow ...

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 20th-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Scottish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Scottish writers People from Dumfries and Galloway