The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize announced its international longlist today, Thursday 26 January. The £20,000 prize is 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.
With authors hailing from the UK, Ireland, Nigeria, Kenya, Somalia, Lebanon and Australia, this year’s longlist of 12 features an even split of debut and established names, with African diaspora and female voices dominating the longlist.
Prominent themes in this year’s longlist are coming of age, adversity, and love. The long-listed titles comprise eight novels, two poetry collections and two short story collections:
- Limberlost by Robbie Arnott (Atlantic Books) – novel (Australia)
- Seven Steeples by Sara Baume (Tramp Press) – novel (Ireland)
- God’s Children Are Little Broken Things by Arinze Ifeakandu (Orion, Weidenfeld & Nicolson) – short story collection (Nigeria)
- Maps Of Our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer (Picador, Pan Macmillan) – novel (UK)
- Phantom Gang by Ciaran O’Rourke (The Irish Pages Press) – poetry collection (Ireland)
- Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor (Oneworld) – novel (Kenya)
- Losing the Plot by Derek Owusu (Canongate Books) – novel (UK)
- I’m a Fan by Sheena Patel (Rough Trade Books) – novel (UK)
- Send Nudes by Saba Sams (Bloomsbury Publishing) – short story collection (UK)
- Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head by Warsan Shire (Chatto & Windus) – poetry collection (Somalia-UK)
- Briefly, A Delicious Life by Nell Stevens (Picador, Pan Macmillan) – novel (UK)
- No Land to Light On by Yara Zgheib (Atlantic Books, Allen & Unwin) – novel (Lebanon)
The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist will be announced on Thursday 23 March, followed by the winner’s ceremony held in Swansea on Thursday 11 May, prior to International Dylan Thomas Day on Sunday 14 May.