University Days

UNIVERSITY DAYS is one of a series of young adult novellas, set in London. Twins, Olivia and Melanie, are now aged eighteen. Studious Olivia and her boyfriend Bevin are studying at Imperial College; rebellious Melanie at the Royal Academy of Music. Each responds differently to a new environment, new friends and new studies. Their home lives also are full of changes. The twins’ 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 many dramatic moments include Melanie’s announcement that she is pregnant and the birth of her daughter, Zoe.

The first volume in this series, Instant Messages, was Joint-Winner of the inaugural Proverse Prize. University Days won a prize in the 2010 Proverse Prize competition.

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LAURA SOLOMON was born in New Zealand, and she 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. Her plays have been produced at the Wellington (New Zealand) Fringe Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (UK). Among other writing prizes, she has twice won a prize in the Bridport (UK) International Short Story Competition. Her short story, "Sprout" (first published in the 2004 Bridport Anthology, and later in her short story collection, Alternative Medicine, with Flame Books in the UK), was translated into Czech by Olga Walló and appeared in krásná in the Czech Republic in 2011. She has published several books with Proverse: An Imitation of Life (2nd edition), Hilary and David, In Vitro, Instant Messages, The Shingle Bar Sea Monster and Other Stories, and Vera Magpie.