📖 Book Award ~ The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize Longlist 2024

 

THE SWANSEA UNIVERSITY DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE REVEALS INTERNATIONAL LONGLIST FOR 2024

Worth £20,000, this global accolade recognises exceptional literary talent aged 39 or under, celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama. The prize invokes the memory of Dylan Thomas to support the writers of today, nurture the talents of tomorrow, and celebrate international literary excellence.

The full longlist for 2024 is :


- A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò (Canongate Books) – novel (Nigeria)

- Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking, Penguin Random House UK) – novel (UK/Ghana)

- The Glutton by A. K. Blakemore (Granta) – novel (England, UK)

- Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan (Faber & Faber) – poetry collection (Hong Kong)

- Penance by Eliza Clark (Faber & Faber) – novel (England, UK)

- The Coiled Serpent by Camilla Grudova (Atlantic Books) – short story collection (Canada)

- Hungry Ghosts by Kevin Jared Hosein (Bloomsbury Publishing UK/Ecco, HarperCollins US) – novel (Trinidad and Tobago)

- Local Fires by Joshua Jones (Parthian Books) – short story collection (Wales, UK)

- Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (Granta) – novel (US)

- Close to Home by Michael Magee (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House UK) – novel (Northern Ireland, UK)

- Open Up by Thomas Morris (Faber & Faber) – short story collection (Wales, UK)

- Divisible by Itself and One by Kae Tempest (Picador, Pan Macmillan) – poetry collection (England, UK)

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 #SUDTP24 & @dylanthomprize

Key Dates for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2024

Shortlist Announcement: 21 March 2024

Winner Announcement and award ceremony, Swansea: 16 May 2024

Launched in 2006, the annual Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for young writers, aimed at encouraging raw creative talent worldwide. It celebrates and nurtures international literary excellence. Worth £20,000, it is one of the UK’s most prestigious literary prizes as well as one of the world’s largest literary prizes for young writers. Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under, the Prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama. The prize is named after the Swansea-born writer, Dylan Thomas, and celebrates his 39 years of creativity and productivity. One of the most influential, internationally renowned writers of the mid-twentieth century, the prize invokes his memory to support the writers of today and nurture the talents of tomorrow.

Last year's prize was awarded to Arinze Ifeakandu for his debut short story collection God's Children Are Little Broken Things (Orion, Weidenfeld & Nicolson). Chair of the 2023 Judges, Di Speirs, said: ‘We were unanimous in our praise and admiration for this exhilarating collection of nine stories. Arinze Ifeakandu’s debut shines with maturity, the writing bold, refreshing and exacting but never afraid to linger and to allow characters and situations to develop and change, so that the longer stories are almost novels in themselves. A kaleidoscopic reflection of queer life and love in Nigeria, the constraints, the dangers and the humanity, this is a collection that we wanted to press into many readers’ hands around the world and which left us excited to know what Arinze Ifeakandu will write next.’

Previous winners also include Patricia Lockwood, Max Porter, Raven Leilani, Bryan Washington, Guy Gunaratne, and Kayo Chingonyi.

The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist will be announced on Thursday 21 March followed by the Winner’s Ceremony held in Swansea on Thursday 16 May, following International Dylan Thomas Day on Tuesday 14 May.

📖 Featured Book of the Month ~ What We Did in the Storm by Tina Baker

 

Viper/ Serpents Tail
15 February 2024

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book

On the beautiful and windswept island of Tresco, two worlds live side by side. The wealthy visitors come by helicopter to stay at their lavish time-share properties. The estate staff travel by boat, and work all hours to keep them happy, to keep the money flowing in. But while the blue skies and savage waves make the island seem a wild paradise, under the surface the inhabitants are concealing more than they dare reveal. The truths about their marriages, their love affairs, and what they do in the darkness while their neighbours are sleeping. As black clouds come rolling in and a storm hits the island, truths and rumours begin to tumble out, wreaking terrible damage. In the midst of the tempest, two women are attacked and one goes missing. The secrets of this fragile community can no longer be hidden if it hopes to survive. The islanders must finally reveal what they did in the storm, no matter the cost.

📖 My Review…

 

The beautiful island of Tresco is the setting for this compelling mystery which looks at the dark underside of this idyllic island getaway. For those with money Tresco offers a sumptuous retreat from the humdrum of life and yet for those who eke out a living in the hospitality trade there is little rest from the demands of their jobs, pandering to the whims and fancies of those who have money to spend. However, all is not as it seems on the island and with simmering tensions bubbling it only takes one unusual event to alter the dynamic of the place and its people. When a vicious storm threatens the equilibrium of the island it would seem that unbearable tensions, already heightened, will soon start to spiral out of control.

Intricately plotted, with a strong set of characters, and oodles of tension this atmospheric thriller is a real page turner which keeps you guessing from start to finish. Filled with all the trademarks of this author’s fine story telling skills there is never a moment when the plot doesn’t draw you in and so many times I thought I had it all figured out only to find, in the end, that I was nowhere near. There are a few authors who get my pulse racing and Tina Baker is definitely up there with the best of them as each book she shares with us just gets better and better and What We Did in the Storm is no exception which is why I have no hesitation in making it my Featured Book of the Month for February.

What We Did in the Storm will be published on the 15th February 2024

Twitter @TinaBakerBooks #WhatWeDidInTheStorm

Website 

@ViperBooks

📖 Blog Tour ~ Extracting Humanity and Other Stories by Stephen Oram

 

Orchid's Lantern Press
2023

My thanks to Isabelle Kenyon for the invitation to the blog tour

In this remarkably perceptive collection, Stephen Oram blends cutting-edge science and tech with everyday emotions and values to create 20 thought experiments with heart.

Extracting Humanity is a skilful exploration of smart currencies, memorials, medical care, treatment of refugees, social networks, data monitoring, and justice systems. Always without prescription or reprimand, these stories are simply the beginning of the conversation.

From an eerie haptic suit that Tommy must call Father, to a protective, nutritious bubble that allows Feng Mian to survive on a colonised Moon; from tattoos that will earn their wearers a mini-break in a sensory chamber, to Harrie anxiously awaiting AI feedback on her unborn child… These startling, diverse narratives map all-too-real possibilities for our future and the things that might ultimately divide or unite us.

I'm delighted to be able to share this short story today from Extracting Humanity 

FAILING FATHERS

“I don’t want to beg, but we are best mates ‘n all that.”

“You have to be kidding. They’ll trace it so easily, and then where will we be?”

I shrugged and carried on tinkering with the code of the car that had been brought in to have its latest patches installed. I wasn’t paying proper attention to what I was doing, but then if they couldn’t pay me a decent wage, why should I?

I tried again, speaking loudly but not directly to him. “I have to buy food and heat the house and it’s the wife’s birthday. All I want is for you to do some shopping for me. I’ll pay you back straight away. I don’t see how they’ll know it’s for me and not you.”

“You’ve heard the rumours. Anything that smacks of reparation avoidance is swiftly dealt with. Shame laundering, isn’t that what they call it?”

I kept my eyes firmly fixed on the screen in front of me, trying not to make a big deal out of it.

“It’s only one weekly food shop.”

“Apart from the illegal bit, your lineage owes my lineage and until that’s done…”

He had a point, but he was wrong. It wasn’t my forefathers who stole stuff from other countries and locked it away in the British Museum.

I stared at him. “That genetic profiling is crap. Completely ignores the fact those elite fuckers were stealing from my sort at the same time as robbing the heritage of yours.”

He mumbled something I couldn’t make out.

“It’s too generic. It should be a class thing, not a country thing. No way does it trace those who were really responsible.”

Another mumble.

I looked away. “Still, we are where we are as my mother used to say. For better or worse we have programmable money, and it has rules.”

He came and stood next to me. “You’re my friend. I get that. And that’s why I know we’ll rise above this whole reparation thing. It only lasts until it’s all paid back.”

I nodded, unable to reply. He just didn’t get it.

“Not the sins of my fathers,” I muttered under my breath. I was innocent. My whole family line was innocent, and yet my Heritage Pound was worth less than his because the cost of re-balancing the abuses of other people’s ancestors fell to me and mine.

I continued talking while working. “I wasn’t asked about the British Museum being privatised. I wasn’t consulted about the contents becoming the asset behind the most widely used private currency. It wasn’t my decision to give it favourable interest rates and lower tax rates than the other currencies. It’s those bastards in charge of the Bank of England’s digital currency.”

I rubbed my temples and sighed. “I agree with the government offsetting the reparation obligations of its colonial past, but there’s a world of difference between agreeing with the what and agreeing with the how.”

He tutted and went back to his bench.

We ignored each other for the rest of the day, but as he left he called across. “I’ll see if the kids have any ideas.”

My teenage daughter met me outside, determined that I should buy her mother a birthday present.

“Just a small one,” she said.

I told her we couldn’t afford it and that her mother understood, but she insisted.

“Why don’t we use a different currency? One that works for us, not against us. Then we could afford it,” she said.

I explained as best I could how difficult it was to be accepted by any other currency. Their rules of interaction with the CBDC were predicated on how risky their customer base was, and we were in one of the highest risk brackets.

She pushed hard. “Why not do what Sasha’s dad does? He owns shares in art that’s worth more every day. Non. Fungible. Tokens. Get it?”

“Fine for him”, I explained, “but we don’t have any capital to begin with.” She huffed and puffed, throwing one superficially thought-through solution after another at me. It was as if she considered me to be stupid. As if she thought I’d not explored all these options.

She made that disgusting sound with her tongue.

“It’s crap.”

“I know,” I said. “You’re right. It’s the very people whose ancestors were responsible for the appalling past of our country who use the other currencies. They escape any consequences of the national reparation.”

She was fuming, and with the familiar cry of every teenager, she pointed out that it wasn’t fair. All I could do was agree with her. Replying with the age-old parental response that life just isn’t fair.

I told my mate about it the next day, and despite the seriousness of the situation, I found myself laughing along with him about the idealism of youth. We reminisced about our own teenage years and how we’d been certain that we knew how the world worked and how it could be a lot better. It was good to be back on jovial terms, and he was trying to tell me something his daughter had said, but talking about our kids behind their backs made me feel uncomfortable.

I ignored him until he stood by me, looking pleased with himself. “Here, give me your phone,” he said, grabbing it from my bench.

I frowned, but with curiosity. He swiped the screen and then held his own close to it.

“There,” he said. “You’ll never guess what. My daughter’s been using her Heritage Pound advantage to invest in that new youth currency. Know the one? She’s made a mint out of limited-edition skins in those games she’s fixated with. And… wait for it… she wants to gift your family some shares.” With a thumbs up he added, “It’s allowed.”

I was speechless. What a brilliant mate, and what a great father.

About the Author

X/Twitter @OramStephen

@kenyon_isabelle

📖 Author in the Spotlight ~ Claire Dyer

 

Hi Claire and welcome back to Jaffareadstoo. Congratulations on your new novel and Happy Publication Day!

Thank you! It’s great to be back!

Without giving too much away what can you tell us about What We Thought We Knew?

The novel is about the three families at numbers two, four and six Penwood Heights. These families are connected by work, friendship and a terrible tragedy. Also, whilst each character thinks they know all there is to know about the others, they don’t. Whilst told via ten points of view, it is the central character, Faith, whose story is narrated in the first person and allows the reader to know that not only is she keeping her own secret, but unknown to everyone else, she’s also keeping another’s. It is when this other person’s secret is discovered that what the families thought they knew about one another is blown to pieces.

When planning a novel what usually comes first the plot or the people?

It varies. Sometimes inspiration can strike via an object or place, and sometimes a central idea or a situation. With this novel, it was after I’d hosted a dinner party with friends that I got to wondering what secrets we might be keeping from one another, and the story grew from there. I visited the town where I wanted to set the novel and drove around Penwood Heights (which is a real place) so I could visualise for myself where the families might live. I must add that a lot of artistic licence was used in my portrayal of the road, houses and town! And, once I’d got the setting nailed, I set about peopling it. Telling the story from ten points of view was a mad decision but one I don’t regret now it's done! I felt it important that each person should have their own voice and story arc.

Whilst researching the novel did you discover anything which surprised you?

I actually first researched and wrote the novel about twelve years ago, rewriting it during lockdown and my parents’ last illnesses, so I guess the thing that surprised me most was how ‘real’ everything still seemed to me: both the people and the places of the novel came back in full technicolour. However, I think the thing I enjoyed researching most was Faith and Lizzie’s coffee shop. The very lovely people in my local Costa spent time talking to me about their process and especially how their Lisa 3 Coffee Machine worked! It was huge fun and really interesting!

Your style of writing is very much ‘from the heart’. Does this take its toll on you emotionally and if so how do you overcome it?

You’re right, I do feel very connected to my characters and the ups and downs of their lives can take their toll on me, but I guess the thing that helps is remembering that I’m working towards an ending where (hopefully) there will be a resolution of sorts for each of them – even if it’s not a fairytale ending, it’s an ending and that’s what keeps me going!

When do you find the time to write, and do you have a favourite place to do your writing?

When I’m writing I try to schedule specific times in my diary around my teaching and editing commitments, and have found that I write best in the morning at my desk at home, in silence, with a cat or two by my side. However, my absolute favourite place and time to write is when I’m on holiday in my beloved Kalkan in Turkey. Getting up early, making coffee and sitting looking out at the bay as the sun rises over the mountain behind the villa as I write, is a real treat!

What do you hope readers will take away from reading What We Thought We Knew?

I hope they will take two things away from reading the novel. Firstly, I hope they will be able to forgive my characters for what they do wrong and, secondly, understand that sometimes we can all do the wrong things for the right reasons.

Thank you, Claire for being our Author in the Spotlight today.

Thank you for having me!

Pegasus
25 January 2024

The families at numbers two, four and six Penwood Heights are connected by work, friendship, the loss of a child and a secret truth which has sat in the bedrock of their lives for years. In the centre of this tight-knit group is Faith, who believes her job is to act as a paperweight, keeping them all safe. And she does this until someone from her past reappears and threatens to sabotage everything. And, as the pieces fall, these families, these friends, realise that what they thought they knew about one another was nothing more than make-believe. They also discover that trust is illusory and for Faith, at least, that keeping other people’s secrets can be more dangerous than keeping her own.

More about Claire

Claire Dyer’s poetry collections are published by Two Rivers Press, her novels by Quercus, The Dome Press, Matador and Pegasus. Her latest novel is ‘What We Thought We Knew’, and a further collection, ‘The Adjustments’, is forthcoming with Two Rivers Press in April 2024. She teaches creative writing and runs Fresh Eyes, an editorial and critiquing service. She is Poetry Consultant to the Council of the SWWJ, has an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway, University of London and is represented by Broo Doherty at DHH Literary Agency.

X/Twitter @clairedyer1

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Amazon UK

📖 Blog Tour ~ The Secrets of Crestwell Hall by Alexandra Walsh

 

Boldwood Books
24 January 2024

My thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

A king adorns the throne… He has no subtlety, no grace but he does not deserve to die in the way that has been planned and this is why we shall stop them, our men, our kin and save us all.’

1605

Bess Throckmorton is well used to cunning plots and intrigues. With her husband Sir Walter Raleigh imprisoned in the Tower of London, and she and her family in a constant battle to outwit Robert Cecil, the most powerful man in the country who is determined to ruin her, Bess decides to retreat to her beloved home, Crestwell Hall. But there she is shocked to hear talk of a new plot to murder the king. So, unbeknownst to their menfolk, the wives of the plotters begin to work together to try to stop the impending disaster.

Present Day

Isabella Lacey and her daughter, Emily, are excited to be starting a new life at her aunt’s home, Crestwell Hall in Wiltshire. During renovations, Isabella discovers an ancient bible that once belonged to Bess Throckmorton, and to her astonishment finds that it doubled as a diary. As Isabella reads Bess’s story, a new version of the Gunpowder Plot begins to emerge - told by the women.

When Emily’s life is suddenly in terrible danger, Isabella understands the relentless fear felt by Bess, hundreds of years ago. And as the fateful date of 5th November draws ever closer, Bess and the plotters’ wives beg their husbands to stop before a chain of events is set into action that can only end one way…

📖 My Review..

The shadows of the past are inextricably linked with the future and by cleverly combining two dual timeframes we learn The Secrets of Crestwell Hall and the part it played in the 1605 Gunpowder Plot.

Isabella Lacey and her daughter Emily arrive at Crestwell Hall in order to make a new start. A failed marriage has left Isabella wary and suspicious but she is determined that with Crestwell’s owner, her aunt Thalia, she will help to bring the house and its history alive once more. However, finding Crestwell’s secrets is no easy task and whilst the echoes of the past intrude so we start to build up a picture of the previous owner of Crestwell Hall. Elizabeth Throckmorton was the wife of Sir Walter Raleigh but with Raleigh languishing in the Tower of London and with plots and counter plots swirling around her Elizabeth must look to protect herself and those under her care from being implicated in the plot to rid England of its unpopular King.

The history of the time is well explored and this retelling of the Gunpowder Plots adds an altogether different dimension, it was particularly interesting to read of the family, and friendship, connections between those who were plotting and those who wished to see it fail. The dual time aspect is done really well and I found that as one time frame finished we were whisked away either into the past with Bess and her troubles or forward into the future as Isabella and her aunt set about bring Crestwell Hall back to life.

An easy page turner, with much to enjoy, this dual time story has everything I wanted, well researched history, a lively plot and enough intrigue in both time frames to make for a satisfying read.

About the Author

Alexandra Walsh is the bestselling author of dual timeline historical mysteries, previously published by Sapere. Her books range from the fifteenth century to the Victorian era and are inspired by the hidden voices of women that have been lost over the centuries. Formerly a journalist, writing for national newspapers, magazines and TV.

Twitter /X @purplemermaid25 #TheSecretsofCrestwellHall

@BoldwoodBooks #BoldwoodBloggers

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📖 Blog Tour ~ Shadows in the Ashes by Christina Courtenay

 

Headline Review
18 January 2024

My thanks to the publisher and Rachel's Random Resources for the book
and the invitation to the blog tour

Present Day

Finally escaping an abusive marriage, Caterina Rossi takes her three-year-old daughter and flees to Italy. There she’s drawn to research scientist Connor, who needs her translation help for his work on volcanology. Together they visit the ruins of Pompeii and, standing where Mount Vesuvius unleashed its fire on the city centuries before, Cat begins to see startling visions. Visions that appear to come from the antique bracelet handed down through her family’s generations…

​

AD 79

Sold by his half-brother and enslaved as a gladiator in Roman Pompeii, Raedwald dreams only of surviving each fight, making the coin needed to return to his homeland and taking his revenge. That is, until he is hired to guard beautiful Aemilia. As their forbidden love grows, Raedwald’s dreams shift like the ever more violent tremors of the earth beneath his feet.

The present starts eerily to mirror the past as Cat must fight to protect her safety, and to forge a new path from the ashes of her old life…

📖 My Review…

Living in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, the residents of Pompeii are, in AD79, unaware of the disaster which is about to befall them. Raedwald is a gladiator who has been taken against his will to fight in the arenas. When he is assigned to look after the wife of a prominent Roman, Raedwald can't help but be attracted to the beautiful young woman however, a clandestine relationship between the wife of such a prominent Roman and a captive gladiator is strictly forbidden.  

In the present day, Caterina Rossi has escaped an abusive relationship and has settled in her native Italy where she meets Connor, a scientist, who is visiting the area to write a report about volcanoes and hires Caterina to do some translation for him. Hurt by the events of the past, Caterina is reluctant to trust a man again and yet she is strangely drawn towards Connor.

As the story starts to overlap and coalesce we soon get to know much more about what is happening with Raedwald and Aemilia in AD79 whilst at the same time appreciate the burgeoning relationship between Caterina and Conor in the bustling city of Sorrento.

There are very few authors around who can really bring a dual time narrative to life but this author is up there with the best of them as she can, with a magic flick of words, take you from past to present and back again in an imaginative story which is as seamless as it is compelling. I found the setting of the story in Italy, and Pompeii in particular, to be really descriptive and could very easily imagine life in the ancient world as Raedwald and Aemilia cross paths in the city they call home and yet I also followed Caterina's drama filled life with equal anticipation of a peaceful conclusion,

Beautifully written, and authentically researched there is much to enjoy in escaping into the past whilst following a strong connections with the future and with a particular talisman to link the two time-frames the echoes of the past are allowed to sing strong and true. There is anguish in both time frames, harsh events which overshadow happiness but with romance, love and hope at its core Shadows in the Ashes is a definitely story which resonates long after the last page is turned. 

About the Author

Christina Courtenay writes historical romance, time slip and time travel stories, and lives in Herefordshire (near the Welsh border) in the UK. Although born in England, she has a Swedish mother and was brought up in Sweden – hence her abiding interest in the Vikings. Christina is a former chairman of the UK’s Romantic Novelists’ Association, now a Vice President, and has won several awards, including the RoNA for Best Historical Romantic Novel twice with Highland Storms (2012) and The Gilded Fan (2014) and the RNA Fantasy Romantic Novel of the year 2021 with Echoes of the Runes. SHADOWS IN THE ASHES (dual time/timeslip romance published by Headline Review 18th January 2024) is her latest novel. Christina is a keen amateur genealogist and loves history and archaeology (the armchair variety).

Twitter @PiaCCourtenay #ShadowsInTheAshes

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@headlinepg @rararesources

Amazon UK

📖 Blog Tour ~A Breath of Fresh Air by Jessica Redland

 

Boldwood Books
10 January 2024

Escape to the Lakes series #2

My thanks to the publishers for my copy of the book
and to Rachel's Random Resources for the invitation to the blog tour

Rosie feels like there's something missing in her life.

She loves her job as the manager of Willowdale Hall Riding Stables, caring for the horses and teaching children to ride, and she loves the home she shares with her mother in the beautiful Lake District. But she can't help wondering how her life might look if things had been different. What if her father had been around to help care for her mother? And what if she'd found someone special herself?

When Hubert Cranleigh - the owner of Willowdale Hall - is taken ill, his son Oliver steps into the breach. Brooding and distant, Rosie is furious when he claims not to know who she is. Especially when they have a history.

Rosie's life is about to be turned upside down, but with the New Year comes new opportunities. What Rosie feels is missing from her life might be closer than she thinks, and with more significant consequences than she could ever have imagined...

📖 My Review..

It’s been a real treat to return to this lovely series set in the English Lake District to catch up with what is happening in the pretty village of Willowdale which nestles on the banks of the picturesque Derwent Water. In this second book in the series we meet again with Rosie who runs the Willowdale Riding Stables and who regularly runs the wrath of the irascible riding stable owner, Hugh Cranleigh. Hugh is an awkward and bad tempered man, however, when he has an accident it gives Rosie the opportunity to become reacquainted with Hugh’s son, Oliver Cranleigh, who she grew up on the Willowdale estate. There is complicated history between Rosie and Oliver and this book explores, in detail, just what caused them to become estranged.

This is a lovely warm-hearted story but with a darker edge especially as we get to know more about Rosie’s ‘mam’, Alice, and the secrets in her past which have threatened her peace of mind for far too many years. The Lake District setting adds the perfect environment especially as we get to explore the area on walks with Rosie and her friend Autumn, a character we met in the first book in the series. There is much to enjoy in any of this author’s creative works and A Breath of Fresh Air certainly lived up to my expectations in a story which kept my attention from start to finish.

About the Author

Jessica Redland writes emotional but uplifting stories of love, friendship, family and community. Her Whitsborough Bay books transport readers to the stunning North Yorkshire Coast where she lives with her husband, daughter and sprocker spaniel. Her Hedgehog Hollow series, set in a hedgehog rescue centre, takes readers into the beautiful rolling countryside of the Yorkshire Wolds.

Twitter @JessicaRedland

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