Television's cultural domination over film has been well-documented, with many claiming TV to be the cultural medium of the new millennium. Writers such as Vince Gilligan (Breaking Bad), David Simon (The Wire) and David Chase (The Sopranos) are as lauded today as the great American novelists of the Sixties: Mailer, Roth, Bellow. This is now serious critical ground - and Nic Pizzolatto's True Detective was probably the most critically acclaimed show of 2014. Starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, it was genuine, water-cooler television; the type every writer dreams about but few can pull off.

Pizzolatto had already won awards and acclaim as a novelist before True Detective. An accomplished writer of short stories, his talent was obvious across many mediums. However

True Detective made his name. Whatever happens in the proposed third season, you can bet people will be talking about it.

Nic Pizzolatto was presented with his award by Dylan Jones.

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