Dylan Thomas Prize ~ Longlist 2025

 

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.

Mosab Abu Toha, Forest of Noise (4th Estate) – poetry collection (Palestinian)

Emma Glass, Mrs Jekyll (CHEERIO publishing) - novel (British)

Jo Hamya, The Hypocrite (Weidenfeld & Nicolson (Orion)) - novel (British)

Seán Hewitt, Rapture's Road (Jonathon Cape (Vintage, Penguin Random House)) – poetry collection (British-Irish)

Ferdia Lennon, Glorious Exploits (Fig Tree, Penguin Random House) – novel (Irish)

Andrew McMillan, Pity (Canongate Books) – novel (British)

Lottie Mills, Monstrum (Oneworld (Oneworld Publications)) – short story collection (British)

Ruthvika Rao, The Fertile Earth (Oneworld (Oneworld Publications)) – novel (Indian)

Yael van der Wouden, The Safekeep (Viking, Penguin Random House UK) – novel (Dutch)

Rebecca Watson, I Will Crash (Faber & Faber) – novel (British)

Eley Williams, Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good (4th Estate) – short story collection (British)

Yasmin Zaher, The Coin (Footnote Press) – novel (Palestinian)

This year sees one of the youngest nominated writers in contention for the highly coveted prize – winner of the BBC Young Writers' Award, Lottie Mills age twenty-three – who is in the running for her debut short story collection Monstrum, a beautifully gothic series of tales that captures the experience of characters excluded by a society that cannot accept their difference, and is inspired by her own experiences of living with cerebral palsy and lupus. The second short story writer on the longlist is the Granta Best Young British Novelist Eley Williams, who is recognised for her dazzling new collection Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good, exploring the nature of relationships both intimate and transient.

This year, two writers have been longlisted for their poetry collections, including the award-winning British-Irish writer Seán Hewitt who is recognised for Rapture’s Road, which explores the reciprocal relationship between queer sexuality and the natural world through a journey into the hypnotic ‘nightwoods’. Also nominated is the award-winning Palestinian poet Mosab Abu Toha, who is celebrated for Forest of Noise, a deeply powerful collection of poems about life in Gaza, sharing first-hand experiences of family, loss and courage from a live war zone.

There is a second Palestinian writer amongst the eight novelists longlisted – Yasmin Zaher – who explores identity and heritage in her debut book The Coin, in which she draws on her own experiences to dissect nature and civilisation, beauty and justice, class and belonging. There are three further debut novelists, all of whom look to the past in their longlisted books: Ireland’s Ferdia Lennon journeys to Ancient Sicily in his highly acclaimed Glorious Exploits; India’s Ruthvika Rao explores love, friendship, betrayal and class in post-partition India within her stunning debut The Fertile Earth; and the Netherlands’ Yale van der Wouden brings domestic drama to the Dutch countryside during the summer of 1961, with a powerful exploration of the legacy of WWII in The Safekeep.

The four further novelists in contention include the immensely talented Welsh writer Emma Glass, who is longlisted for Mrs Jekyll, her tender and devastating reimagination of Stevenson's gothic classic, contorted into a sumptuous and shocking account of modern womanhood. The highly lauded poet Andrew McMillan has been recognised for his gritty and magnificent first novel Pity, which is set across three generations of a South Yorkshire mining family, and is both a lament for a lost way of life as well as a celebration of resilience and the possibility for change.

And finally, strained family relationships are also explored, with Jo Hamya and Rebecca Watson both following up their smash-hit debuts Three Rooms and Little Scratch with extraordinary second novels. Hamya is recognised for The Hypocrite, which considers the fractured dynamic between a father and daughter unravelling over a decade, while Watson delves into the complexities of an estranged brother and sister as they search for forgiveness, in I Will Crash.

The longlisted titles will now be whittled down to a six strong shortlist by an impressive panel of judges chaired by Namita Gokhale, the multi-award-winning Indian writer of more than twenty-five works of fiction and non-fiction (Paro: Dreams of Passion, Things to Leave Behind) as well as the co-director of the famed Jaipur Literature Festival, who is joined by: Professor Daniel Williams, Director of the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales and Co-Director of the Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales at Swansea University; Jan Carson, award-winning novelist and writer (The Fire Starters, The Raptures); Mary Jean Chan, winner of the Costa Book Award and former Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize shortlistee (Flèche, Bright Fear); and Max Liu, literary critic and contributor to the Financial Times, the i and BBC Radio 4.

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Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2024 ~ Shortlist Announced.

 

The shortlist for the Swansea University DylanThomas Prize has been announced:

- 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)

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

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

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 only debut on this year’s shortlist is the astonishing new Welsh talent Joshua Jones, who is in the running for his highly acclaimed short story collection Local Fires– a stunning series of multifaceted stories inspired by real people and real events that took place in his hometown of Llanelli, South Wales. 

The sole poet in contention this year is Mary Jean Chan – who was previously shortlisted for the Prize with their debut Fleche in 2020 – and is now recognised for the collection Bright Fear, which fearlessly explores themes of identity, multilingualism and postcolonial legacy.

Three of the four novelists have also gained their second nomination for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize: British-Ghanaian author Caleb Azumah Nelson is in contention for his second novel, Small Worlds, in which he travels from South London to Ghana and back again over the course of three summers to tell an intimate father-son story exploring the worlds we build for ourselves; 

Nigerian novelist Ayòbámi Adébáyò is shortlisted for her dazzling story of modern Nigeria, A Spell of Good Things, and two families caught in the riptides of wealth, power, romantic obsession and political corruption.

US author Catherine Lacey is celebrated for the genre-bending Biography of X, a roaring epic and ambitious novel chronicling the life, times and secrets of a notorious artist.

Completing the shortlist is British novelist A.K. Blakemore, recognised for her darkly exuberant novel The Glutton, which – set to the backdrop of Revolutionary France – is based on the true story of a peasant turned freakshow attraction. 

The 2024 shortlist was selected by a judging panel chaired by writer and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Namita Gokhale, alongside author and lecturer in Creative Writing at Swansea University, Jon Gower, winner of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2022 and Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin, Seán Hewitt, former BBC Gulf Correspondent and author of Telling Tales: An Oral History of Dubai, Julia Wheeler, and interdisciplinary artist and author of Keeping the House, Tice Cin.

Julia Wheeler on A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò:

“A Spell of Good Things’ by Ayòbámi Adébáyò takes us deep into the layers of Nigeria’s divided society to create a compelling and at times heartbreaking novel. Weaving social mores and destructive politics, the personal and the national are entwined to leave skilfully drawn characters wondering, what next?”

Tice Cin on Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson:

“In this deeply loving and rhythmically moving novel, we meet Stephen and his own small worlds, those lives that are ever-present in our orbiting. Paying close attention to a loneliness that comes with the no man's land of being hurtled from one's safe place, Azumah Nelson conveys elsewhereness as a solace, resting into the hand outreached that brings us home, the afterblooms of our grief, and the music of community.”

Jon Gower on The Glutton by A. K. Blakemore:

“This wildly inventive but deeply well-researched novel is distinguished by vivid, poetic prose, telling the story of Tarare, a young man cursed with an unsatiable hunger. Its superbly rendered cast of characters move through a violently changing France and a world fully out of kilter. Glutton, utterly satisfying, leaves the reader hungry for more.”

Tice Cin on Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan:

“Written with a quiet intimacy, Mary Jean Chan's second collection hums by your ear with gentle, inviting and formally inventive poetry. In a world freighted with exclusion, from the relentless snarls of colonisation to queerphobia, Bright Fear opens the door into a process of building a life for yourself, still. With lucid verse enhanced through their multilingual play, Chan tends to a garden of self-embrace and chosen community, lingering with the fullness of queer actualisation, the breath in a parent's pause, and the roots of tender soothing.”

Namita Gokhale on Local Fires by Joshua Jones:

“Local Fires by Joshua Jones is set in his hometown of Llanelli in West Wakes. This debut collection of short fiction evokes the inertia, stagnation, and vanished innocence of a post-industrial landscape. It ruminates upon toxic masculinity and generational despair , presents comic to tragic cameos of gender and sexual identity, and also a deep window to neurodivergence. A portrait of place and community that is vital , authentic and rooted.”

Seán Hewitt on Biography of X by Catherine Lacey:

“Biography of X, in its exploration of art, relationships, and power, unpicks the stories we tell about our own lives and the lives of others, and asks what happens when we have to re-write those stories in order to go on living. A deeply-imagined, ambitious and beautiful novel that manages to pull off a formal high-wire act with dazzling skill.

The winner will be announced on the 16th May 2024

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📖 Blog Tour ~ Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize 2024 Longlist

The shortlist will be revealed on 21 March.

 

I am delighted to join the blog tour to share my review

Granta
2023

A subversive historical novel set during the French Revolution, inspired by a young peasant boy turned showman, said to have been tormented and driven to murder by an all-consuming appetite.

1798, France. Nuns move along the dark corridors of a Versailles hospital where the young Sister Perpetué has been tasked with sitting with the patient who must always be watched. The man, gaunt, with his sallow skin and distended belly, is dying: they say he ate a golden fork, and that it’s killing him from the inside. But that’s not all—he is rumored to have done monstrous things in his attempts to sate an insatiable appetite… an appetite they say tortures him still.

Born in an impoverished village to a widowed young mother, Tarare was once overflowing with quiet affection: for the Baby Jesus and the many Saints, for his mother, for the plants and little creatures in the woods and fields around their house. He spends his days alone, observing the delicate charms of the countryside. But his world is not a gentle one—and soon, life as he knew it is violently upended. Tarare is pitched down a chaotic path through revolutionary France, left to the mercy of strangers, and increasingly, bottomlessly, ravenous.

This exhilarating, disquieting novel paints a richly imagined life for The Great Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon in 18th-century France: a world of desire, hunger and poverty; hope, chaos and survival. As in her cult hit The Manningtree Witches, Blakemore showcases her stunning lyricism and deep compassion for characters pushed to the edge of society in The Glutton, her most unputdownable work yet.

📖 My Review..

In a Versailles hospital Tarare lies unloved, and largely forgotten, with only the young Sister Perpetué for company. That Tarare is dying is not disputed and as we travel along the journey of his past so we begin to see just what has made this man into The Great Tarare, The Glutton of Lyon, and into a monster whose gargantuan appetite would be his downfall. We meet Tarare in the aftermath of Revolutionary France as he recounts his life in dreadful detail to Sister Perpetué, which at times shocks her into silence. From rural France to his life as a soldier, and showman, Tarare is unsparing in sharing the horrors of his life.

Based on the true story of Tarare, the French showman and soldier, who was renown for his unusual eating habits, this is serious historical fiction at its absolute best. At times quite shocking whilst at others gravely serious I followed Tarare as he moved from the small rural village he was named after and into the nightmare which became the French Revolution. His huge and unusual appetite made him the subject of public scrutiny and in doing so he seemed to lose his humanity altogether. 

Elegantly written, with beautifully written prose, which is, at times, so scarily realistic that I had to catch my breath, The Glutton definitely fired my imagination.  I started the story feeling only revulsion for this man who was purported to have eaten all manner of unusual things only to find, by the conclusion to Tarare's story, that he was merely a misunderstood man and not a depraved monster.

About the Author

A. K. Blakemore's debut novel,The Manningtree Witches, won the Desmond Elliott Prize 2021, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award, and was a Waterstones Book of the Month. She is the author of two full length collections of poetry, Humbert Summer and Fondue, which was awarded the 2019 Ledbury Forte Prize for Best Second Collection, and has also translated the work of Sichuanese poet Yu Yoyo. Her poetry and prose has appeared in the London Review of Books, Poetry, the Poetry Review and the White Review, among other publications.

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📖 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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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.