University Days

UNIVERSITY DAYS is one of a series of young adult novellas, set in London. Here, fraternal twins, Olivia and Melanie, are aged eighteen. Olivia is studying at Imperial College and Melanie at the Royal Academy of Music. Their father, a previously unsuccessful writer, has three books accepted by a major UK publisher and marries again. The girls' mother also marries for a second time. The most dramatic moments are when Melanie announces she is pregnant and gives birth to a daughter, Zoe. The first volume in this series, Instant Messages, was Winner of the inaugural International Proverse Prize.

LAURA SOLOMON was Winner of the inaugural International Proverse Prize (2009) with her novella, Instant Messages, subsequently published by Proverse Hong Kong in 2010. Among other writing prizes, she has twice won a prize in the Bridport (UK) International Short Story Competition. Of Laura Solomon, Maggie Gee, when Chair of the Royal Society of Literature, United Kingdom, wrote, ＂Witty, clear-edged, both lemon-sharp and seductive, Laura Solomon is a writer to watch.＂ Born in New Zealand, Solomon spent nine years in London before returning to New Zealand in 2007. She has an honours degree in English Literature (Victoria University, 1997) and a Masters degree in Computer Science (University of London, 2003). She has published two novels in New Zealand, Black Light (1996) and Nothing Lasting (1997). Her short story collection Alternative Medicine was published in the UK in 2008 and her novel An Imitation of Life was published in the UK in 2009 and subsequently by Proverse. Her first poetry collection, In Vitro, was published in 2011 by Headworx (New Zealand) and subsequently by Proverse. Her titles first published by Proverse are the young adult novellas, Instant Messages and University Days, The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories, Hilary and David (novel), Frida Kahlo’s Cry (poetry collection), and Brain Graft (play). Her short story, ＂Sprout＂, first published in the Bridport Anthology, 2004, and then by Flame Books in the UK, was translated into Czech by Olga Walló and appeared in krásná in the Czech Republic in 2011.