Chris Dolan

Honours graduate in Spanish, Portuguese and English, became a full-time writer in 1992 after working for some years in the Community Sector in Scotland, becoming Scottish Director of Community Service Volunteers, and Assistant Director of Network Scotland. He has worked in Spain, and internationally for various organisations inc. UNESCO.

His first collection of short stories was shortlisted for the Saltire Prize (1996), and his first novel, Ascension Day won the British Society of Authors McKitterick Prize (2001). A short story, Sleet and Snow, won the Scotland on Sunday prize, and another, The Year of the Vezzas, was runner up the following year. His stories have appeared in magazines and newspapers throughout Britain, and in several commissioned collections. He is currently finishing two new novels, and working on a 2nd short story collection..

He won the Scottish Screenwriting Bursary in 1994; the next year he scripted a version of his own short story Poor Angels for a half hour film starring Peter Mullan. In 1996 he wrote a 40" film, The Ring of Truth, based on notes by Bill Douglas, for BBC. His drama-documentary on Scottish anarchist Ethel MacDonald will be shown on BBC next year (May 2006), and another drama documentary on Jane Haining, a Scottish Presbyterian killed in Auschwitz is in development.

Chris has over 50 hours of television drama credits, inc Taggart , Eurokids, River City, High Road, Alba na 70's. He is currently working on a drama documentary about John Thompson, the Celtic goalkeeper who died on the pitch as a direct result of play in 1931.

Chris is a regular features, arts, and travel contributor to national newspapers, inc. The Herald, Sunday Herald, The Independent, and Scotland on Sunday, Sunday Times. In 2001 he won the Canongate Prize for Journalism.

He tutors in screenwriting, prose and theatre, including the annual Macallan Masterclass, and last year ran a course on creative thinking for London-based BBC drama producers. In 2002, he ran 'Conflict Resolution' workshops for both sides of the community in Belfast, using story and song as bridges. This year, 2004, he is running monthly drama workshops for writers new to theatre, in Pamplona.

Chris sits on a variety of Boards including Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Arts, the Centro Lorca Spanish School, and the Robert Louis Stevenson Award, which he won in 2000.

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Agent: Geraldine Cooke