‘The Dancing and the Death on Lemon Street’ by UEA alumnus Denis Hirson has been shortlisted for the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize. Denis (pictured) gained his PhD in Creative and Critical Writing from UEA in 2004. Born in South
Africa and now living in Paris, he also a poet, actor and lecturer and has published five previous books: ‘The House Next Door to Africa’ (1987), ‘We
Walk Straight So You Better Get Out Of The Way’ (2005), ‘I Remember King Kong (The Boxer)’ (2005), ‘White Scars: On Reading and Rites of Passage’ (2006), which was the runner-up for the SA Sunday Times Alan Paton Non-Fiction Prize
runner-up, and the poetry collection ‘Gardening in the Dark’ (2008). The regional winners of the Commonwealth Book Prize will be announced on 22nd May and the overall winner revealed at the Hay Festival on 8th June.