Rue, (right) has been selected as the 2024 Winner of First Novel Prize for her novel “Dwell”. The competition has been run by the Literary Studio since 2016 and the judges this year said that Rue’s novel was “Confidently written and tackling big themes with real sensitivity and care, Rue’s writing pulls you along with assured ease. We both thoroughly enjoyed ‘Dwell’ and immediately felt endeared to its protagonist and setting”.
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It has been described by Blake Friedman as “a moving coming-of-age and LGBT+ story, exploring themes of trauma, healing and belonging in the aftermath of World War One.” ​​
The School in the News - from Colchester Gazette
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Rue Baldry, 1981-88?
​​​She also won the Canada and Europe regional category in the 2023 Commonwealth Short Story Prize for her short story ‘Lech, Prince, and the Nice Things’. 
Ruth Ellen Baldry was awarded a BA in English Literature from York University and then an MA in Literary Theory and Creative Writing from Leeds University. She is renowned as a fiction writer of novels and short stories. She is married and lives in York.