Dundee group the Nethergate Writers have seen sales of their fourth book Whodunwhat take off well in the days since its launch, proving there is a strong demand for fiction written by the area’s talent.
Roots and If Stones Could Speak both topped the paperback charts in the city’s Waterstone’s, and Whodunwhat has repeated that achievement, aided by promising sales on being launched at Dundee University.
Despite having origins in Dundee, members come from all over Tayside and Fife. The contributors, all members of Esther Read’s creative writing class at the university, provided selected readings and refreshments to a keen audience.
Where stories in previous titles had been bound together by a loose theme, Esther asked readers in the area’s libraries for their ideas on characters and situations, from which the writers developed short stories and poems.
Many of those who suggested the initial ideas came to the launch to hear how they had been developed, and heard how a section of Whodunwhat allowed each writer to give a nod to where their brief came from, and how they reacted to it on a personal level.
Having enjoyed a promising reception for the book at launch, and a signing at Waterstone’s, the group will appear to discuss their work at the Dundee Literary Festival June 26 at 2pm. This is a free event and will be held in the university’s Dalhousie Building.
The Nethergate Writers also run a blog at: nethergatewriters.blogspot.com