AN award-winning author, poet and playwright has published a new novel.
Middlesbrough-born Louise Powell’s book, Underdogs, has already received glowing reviews from The Financial Times and The Guardian, among others.
Set in 1998 in the world of independent, unlicensed greyhound racing, or ‘flapping’, Underdogs is inspired by Louise’s childhood involvement in the sport’s lively, working-class community. The story is told in the County Durham dialect of the flapping community and is a tale of family, community, and what it means to be a child in a very adult world.
Louise explained: “It’s the story of a ten-year-old boy who’s lost his mum and how he and his dad bond over the dog track culture at Easington Greyhound Track, which no longer exists.
“The idea for the book came to me back in 2018 when I was on a writers’ development programme at New Writing North. I’d written a few short scenes and wanted to turn these into a novel but didn’t know how.”
Through New Writing North, Louise was assigned a mentor, Carmen Marcus, who encouraged her to experiment widely with narrative voice.
Louise continued: “In 2019 Wheatley Hill dog track, the last flapping track in County Durham, burned down and I realised what I was writing was social history, about a community which soon might not exist.
“I’ve used my love and knowledge of greyhound racing and flapping to write the book, getting inspiration from the many characters I’ve met over the years.”
Louise has held a Greyhound Board of Great Britain Professional Greyhound Trainer’s Licence and has a retired greyhound, Right Paddy.
She added: “It took me nine drafts to find the right, authentic voice and narrative. Some of those drafts were 50,000 words long, but I had to ditch them because I knew they weren’t quite right. It took years to craft the opening few chapters.”
However, those first few chapters won Louise the Sid Chaplin Northern Writers’ Award 2023.
Louise continued: “Because of the Sid Chaplin Award, I was approached by a literary agent. I said I hadn’t finished the book, but I sent off what I’d written to that point, and she replied to say she wanted to represent me.”
Underdogs is published by JM Originals, an imprint of John Murray Press (Hachette) which champions risk-taking, genre-defying writing.
After a publication day party at Star Pelaw Greyhound Stadium in Chester-le-Street, Underdogs was launched at a special New Writing North ‘Right to Read’ event at Newcastle Greyhound Stadium on July 9.
Louise is already working on two new books – one set in the early 2000s and another set in the late 1700s and early 1800s, based on the early development of horseracing in the north east. Both books are concerned with family, class and underground economies.
“Writing is something I have to do – I’m compelled to do. It’s my way of understanding and processing the world, but it’s more than that – I feel I have a duty to memorialise and celebrate communities that don’t have a voice or who have traditionally been denied their voice. Like the flapping community in Underdogs.
“That’s one of the reasons why I’ve used so much of the flapping dialect. There are no history books recording these working-class communities, so I see it as a duty. Underdogs has the dialect and language of the track and I trust the reader to work at it, so they understand what is being said.
“Some readers, particularly from the south, have bought the audio book and the book. They’ve told me the audio book gives an insight into the rhythm of the dialect, making it more accessible.
“I’ve been overwhelmed by the response from the greyhound community – it’s been so positive and lovely, particularly when I’ve written about the love and care shown to the dogs. I’ve always felt part of this community, so its response means a lot to me.”
Louise’s plays have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 Extra and performed at nine theatres. She has written three commissioned short art films, as well as two Arts Council funded audio documentary series. She is the author of the Coal Face poetry and creative non-fiction collections and her writing from this series has been exhibited at several museums.
She is a four-time recipient of Arts Council funding and has received commissions from multiple organisations, most recently New Writing North’s ‘North East Now’ Series of non-fiction essays. In 2023, she held a year-long residency at Josephine Butler College, Durham University.
She gained a First-Class degree in English at Teesside University, an MA with Distinction in Medieval and Renaissance Literary Studies from Durham University and then a PhD in English from Sheffield Hallam University.
Underdogs is available at bookshops including Waterstones and Foyles, and online.