Author Iain Banks has terminal cancer

In a statement posted on his website, the acclaimed writer reveals that he is unlikely to live beyond a year.

18:37 04 April 2013

Author Iain Banks revealed in a statement posted on his official website that he has late-stage gall bladder cancer and is unlikely to live beyond a year. This statement shocked the literary world and legions of fans. 

He said: "The bottom line now, I'm afraid, is that as a late-stage gall bladder cancer patient, I'm expected to live for 'several months' and it's extremely unlikely I'll live beyond a year.

 

"So it looks like my latest novel, The Quarry, will be my last."

 

He revealed that The Quarry has been delivered to the publisher and it is now being fast-tracked for publication. 

 

The 59-year-old author, whose works include the novel The Wasp Factory, has cancelled all future public engagement and is now currently on honeymoon with his partner Adele. 

 

Meanwhile, fellow authors and fans posted messages of support on different social networks, most of them calling the news “just awful.”