The longlist for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize was recently announced and four writers of African descent spot a place on the list: Arinze Ifeakandu, for God’s Children Are Little Broken Things; Warsan Shire, for Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head; Okwiri Oduor, for Things They Lost; Derek Owusu, for Losing The Plot. Other writers on the 12-man list includes: Robbie Arnot, Sara Baume, Maddie Mortimer, Ciarán O’Rourke, Sheena Patel, Saba Sams, Nell Stevens, and Yara Zgheib. The panel of judges is chaired by esteemed British producer and Books Editor for BBC Radio Di Speirs, alongside prize-winning Welsh author and lecturer in English at Swansea University; Jon Gower, American bestselling author; 2012 winner of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize winner Maggie Shipstead; British poet and the founder of Octavia Poetry Collective for Women of Colour, Rachel Long; and Nepali-Indian author and 2013 Prize shortlistee Prajwal Parajuly.
Subsequently, the shortlist will be announced on Thursday, 23 March, followed by the Winner’s Ceremony to be held in Swansea on Thursday 11 May.
Launched in 2006, the annual Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the most prestigious literary prize that awards best published literary work in whatever form–poetry, novels, short stories and drama–written by an author aged 39 or under.
Sponsored by Swansea University, the prize is named after and invokes the memory of the Swansea-born writer, Dylan Thomas, who was a distinguished and renowned writer of the mid-twentieth century. The prize aims to “identify and nurture talent, to celebrate creativity… applauding and supporting the very best young writers.”
Click here to read more about the shortlisted writers and their books.
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