David Simon is perhaps best known as the creator the The Wire, widely acclaimed as one of the best TV dramas ever made – but before Simon’s amazing scripts hit TV screens, he made his name by reporting on crime and deprivation in Baltimore, and by writing two amazing books on the subject: Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (which inspired the series of the same name), and, with Ed Burns, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner City Neighbourhood, also made in to a TV mini-series. His understanding of both sides of the issues of drugs and crime in Baltimore is perhaps what makes The Wire such a superlative piece of television.

Now we have a very cool prize here: to celebrate the new Canongate editions of The Corner and Homicide, and Simon’s recent visit to our shores, we have five copies of Homicide, signed by the man himself. To be in with a chance to win, we need the answers to three questions:

1. Which Baltimore cop featured in Homicide (the book) gave his name to a character in The Wire, as well as going on to act in both Homicide (the TV series) and The Wire?

2. Which newspaper did David Simon take two leaves of absence from to write these books?

3. The corner of which two streets is the setting for The Corner?

Terms and conditions

1. Closing date for entries: 24th June 2009.
2. Open to residents of the United Kingdom only.
3. Entry to the competition is by completion of the above form only. Anyone submitting multiple entries will be disqualified.
4. The winners will be selected at random from those correct entries received before the closing date.
5. Only the winning entrants will be contacted by Bookgeeks. The webmaster’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. The winner’s name may be published on the Bookgeeks website after the closing date of the competition.
7. The competition is not open to Bookgeeks contributors and their families, or to Canongate employees and their families.
8. All in the game yo, all in the game.

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