MA Professional Writing student wins national biography prize

Matt Cox, who will shortly graduate from University College Falmouth's MA Professional Writing course, has won this year's prestigious Tony Lothian Prize, the Biographers' Club prize for uncommissioned, first-time biographers. The announcement was made at a prize dinner in London with prominent writers, publishers, agents and journalists in attendance including Lady Antonia Fraser, Alison Weir and Kate Williams who awarded Matt his prize.

Drawing on the skills and experience gained on the Professional Writing course, Matt submitted a 20 page proposal for a biography entitled White Lies, Black Magic: Prince Monolulu, the Celebrity Britain Forgot. His submission included a synopsis, a 10 page sample chapter, his CV, notes on the intended market for the book and details of competing literature.

Matt spent his year on the MA conducting original research into the previously undocumented life of the elusive black celebrity Prince Monolulu (1881-1965). The West Indian ‘prince' was the first black man to be seen on British TV.  He was also a familiar sight at Britain's racecourses from the 1920s to the 1960s, where he sold his tips in envelopes. As something of an institution on the British horse racing scene, he was particularly noticeable for his brightly coloured clothing and is best remembered for tipping outsider Spion Kop to win the 1920 Derby, earning not only a big payout from his own bet, but also gifts from punters who had followed his advice.

"I was absolutely delighted to win the Tony Lothian Prize. It's very satisfying when any reader enjoys your work, but particularly in these circumstances," said Matt. "I recently took a ‘gap-year for grown-ups' and completed the MA in Professional Writing at University College Falmouth. I'm sure that the enthusiastic support and professionalism of my tutors contributed hugely to my development, and ultimately led to me winning this prestigious prize."

Christina Bunce, Programme Leader, MA Professional Writing commented: "We are thrilled that Matt's proposal, worked on while he was at Falmouth, has won the Prize. Our MA is distinctive in that we not only help students develop creative, innovative writing projects but also ensure they understand the professional and commercial contexts required to successfully take their projects to market. Matt's success is partly testament to the expert tuition of professional writing tutors, in particular Susannah Marriott and Andrew Wille who are both published and still working in the industry."

The £2,000 Prize was awarded to Matt on Thursday 21 October at a dinner at the Langham Hotel in London.  The six shortlisted entrants were interviewed and filmed by a professional film crew. Following the announcement guest speaker Bettany Hughes, historian, biographer and TV presenter, talked about the challenges and rewards of researching Socrates, the subject of her latest book The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the search for the Good Life. This year's judges were Matthew Parris, Kate Williams and Benjamin Buchan.

A summary of White Lies, Black Magic: Prince Monolulu written by Anna Swan (Tony Lothian Prize Administrator) can be found on the Biographers Club website. www.biographersclub.co.uk

The Biographers' Club is an umbrella organisation which seeks to educate, inspire, promote and foster a better understanding of the art of biography and its relevance across the broad spectrum of human endeavour. Through events, the Club creates a forum for this understanding, a public benefit for all in the art of biography across all media and disciplines, and a professional and social interaction among its membership.

The shortlisted entries in alphabetical order:

Matt Cox - White Lies, Black Magic: Prince Monolulu
Barbara Fisher - No Room of One's Own: Trix Kipling
Ursula Hurley - Custom-Breaker: The Life of Elizabeth Cary
Chris Laoutaris - The Queen's Soldier: The Life and Wars of Elizabeth Russell
Will Robinson - A Life of W.T. Stead
B.A. Szerlip - Impossible Dreamer: The Eccentric Genius of Norman Bel Geddes

For further information about MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth, visit www.falmouth.ac.uk/professionalwriting, email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 214374.

UCF is the only independent Higher Education institution in Cornwall with the right to award degrees in its own name.  The University College has two campuses - at Woodlane in Falmouth and Tremough in Penryn (which it owns and jointly manages with the University of Exeter).

UCF's merger with Dartington College of Arts in 2008 created a new institution focusing on the expansion of Falmouth's expertise in Art, Design and Media and Dartington's expertise in Dance, Music, Theatre, Art and Writing.  The Dartington-based courses have now relocated to an impressive, high-specification £19M Performance Centre at the Tremough Campus, which launches this October.  The ERDF (European Regional Development Fund) Convergence Programme invested £12,266,667 in this development which will prepare performance students for success within the creative industries.  The South West Regional Development Agency's Single Pot Fund contributed a further £3M, with the remainder being invested by the Higher Education Funding Council for England's Strategic Development Fund.

The Performance Centre is the latest phase in UCF's ambition to create a new specialist Arts University in Cornwall by 2013/2014 that will be unrivalled in the South West.

UCF is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through Higher Education, funded mainly by the European Union (Objective One and Convergence), the South West Regional Development Agency and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall Council.

Ends

For further information about University College Falmouth, please contact Jilly Easterby Dip CIPR MCIPR, Head of Public Affairs, Telephone: 01326 213792, or email:  jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk

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