Star writer happy to wait tables

Debut novelist Ross Raisin may have struck literary gold with his book God’s Country, but he won’t be quitting his day job any time soon. Raisin, 30, has been nominated for the Dylan Thomas Award - one of the world’s most prestigious literary prizes - and stands to win £60,000 if his hotly-tipped novel, already a best-seller, gets the nod. However he has made it clear that even if he wins he won’t be tempted to leave his job waiting tables at Smiths of Smithfield - a restaurant in the East End of London. “It’s much more fun working there than sitting on your own writing,” said Raisin. “I enjoy it and why would I want to stop doing something I enjoy?”

Raisin was born in Yorkshire and graduated from King’s College London in 2002. God’s Country is a grim first-person tale about a loner who obsesses over a girl while roaming the Yorkshire Moors. It won positive reviews upon its publication in March and secured its author a book deal allegedly worth £20,000 with HarperCollins.

The Dylan Thomas Award is an international prize, open to writers under 30. The 16-strong longlist this year includes Ethiopian-born Dinaw Mengestu, Vietnamese Nam Le and 25-year-old London-based writer Susan Barker. The nominees were read out by actor Michael Sheen who honoured Thomas by referring to him as “a truly great writer, a fellow Welshman, who has inspired so many young people, like myself, to follow what’s in their heart.”