Winners
2018: Kayo Chingonyi, 'Kumukanda'
Zambian-born British poet Kayo Chingonyi has been chosen from a shortlist of six authors to win the world’s biggest literary prize for young writers, the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize.
BAFTA-award winning actor and Swansea University fellow Michael Sheen and Dylan Thomas’ granddaughter Hannah Ellis announced 31-year-old Kayo Chingonyi as the winner of the prestigious award, with a prize sum of £30,000, at a ceremony held at Swansea University.
Kayo was awarded for his critically-acclaimed debut poetry collection, Kumukanda. This bold collection explores black masculinity and rites of passage for young black men in Britain.
On receiving the award, Kayo Chingonyi said:“I’m staggered. It’s wonderful to receive an award in the name of Dylan Thomas, whose work was introduced to me by a really inspirational teacher by the name of Rachel Baroni who introduced me to Under Milk Wood and I’ve been fascinated by his work since then. I want to take a moment to thank my teachers who gave me the confidence to continue writing the poems I was writing just for myself. It’s through the kind of inspiration of those people in my life that I continue to write and follow it through, and now poetry is the centre of my life, and there’s no sense in which writing couldn’t be a part of life. I’m very grateful".
Awarded for the best literary work published 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.
Chair Dai Smith CBE said: “Kayo Chingonyi has an original and distinctive voice and this collection, mature and moving, shows a young poet mastering form in various ways to reveal content which is both personal and immensely relevant to the social dilemmas of Britain today".
Michael Sheen, BAFTA Award-winning actor and Swansea University Honorary Fellow, said: “I’d like to congratulate Kayo Chingonyi for winning the 10th Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize, for his debut collection of poetry Kumukanda, a stunning and hugely culturally relevant collection of poems that keenly explore black culture, masculinity and identity in Britain today. Having grown up near Swansea, I feel a very strong connection with Wales’ cultural heritage, and it is truly an honour for me to present an award that brings the best and most exciting young literary talent from around the world to Wales. I know first-hand how essential exposure to the written word can be for young minds, and I admire the Dylan Thomas Prize for continuing Thomas’ incredible literary legacy and inspiring the next generation of writers and creators from Wales and beyond. With this year marking the 10th anniversary of the prize, as well as the 65th anniversary of Thomas’ death, there is no better time to celebrate Dylan’s legacy and the wonder of the written word".
2018 marks the 10th edition of the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize, named after Wales’ most lauded writer, Swansea-born Dylan Thomas who died sixty-five years ago this year, aged just 39 years old as one of the most important writers of the 20th century. The winner of this year’s prize will receive £30,000, and will be invited to the Hay Festival to discuss their work with Chair of Judges Dai Smith later this month.
Previous winners include Max Porter’s Grief is the Thing with Feathers in 2016, Joshua Ferris’ To Rise Again at a Decent Hour in 2014, and Fiona McFarlane’s highly-acclaimed collection of short stores, The High Places, mostly recently in 2017.
Chaired by Professor Dai Smith CBE, Emeritus Raymond Williams Research Chair in the Cultural History of Wales at Swansea University, and historian and writer on Welsh arts and culture, this year’s judging panel also features: Founder and Director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Namita Gokhale; winner of the inaugural International Dylan Thomas Prize novelist and playwright, Rachel Trezise; poet, translator, and scholar, Professor Kurt Heinzelman; and author and Founder of London Short Story Festival, Paul McVeigh.
2017: Fiona McFarlane, 'The High Places'
The High Places by Fiona McFarlane is named as the winner of the 11th International Dylan Thomas Prize, in partnership with Swansea University.
The High Places, published by Farrar, Straus, Giroux in the US and Sceptre in the UK, is the second book by Fiona McFarlane, whose first novel, The Night Guest, was winner of the inaugural Voss Literary Prize and the 2014 Barbara Jefferis Award. 39-year-old Australian McFarlane exemplifies the international nature of the prize, having studied in Cambridge and at the University of Texas at Austin.
Chair of judges Professor Dai Smith CBE, of Swansea University said: “From an exceptionally talented shortlist of six works, after a great deal of vigorous discussion, the judges recognised the mastery of form which is present in Fiona McFarlane’s unforgettable collection of stunning short stories. The High Places, the judges thought, was highly varied in tone and brought the reader to characters, situations and places which were haunting in their oddity and moving in their human empathy. This is a mature work by a young writer who exemplifies the international spirit of this prize.”
McFarlane’s stories skip across continents, eras, and genres to chart the borderlands of emotional life. In “Mycenae”, she describes a middle aged couple’s disastrous vacation with old friends. In “Good News for Modern Man”, a scientist lives on a small island with only a colossal squid and the ghost of Charles Darwin for company. And in the title story, an Australian farmer turns to Old Testament methods to relieve a fatal drought. Each story explores what Flannery O’Connor called “mystery and manners.” The collection dissects the feelings – longing, contempt, love, fear – that animate our existence and hints at a reality beyond the smallness of our lives.
The £30,000 prize was presented to Fiona McFarlane at a gala ceremony in Swansea University’s Great Hall on its new Bay Campus on 10 May 2017.
Sunday, 14 May, is International Dylan Day, an annual celebration of the life and work of Dylan Thomas, marking the date Under Milk Wood was first read on stage at 92Y The Poetry Center, New York in 1953.
2017 is the 11th year of the prize, which supports and nurtures young writing talent from around the world. One of the richest awards available for young fiction writers, the £30,000 International Dylan Thomas Prize is awarded to the best published literary work of fiction in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.
The prize is named after 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. Eligible works include poetry, novels, short stories and drama.
Professor Smith is Emeritus Raymond Williams Research Chair in the Cultural History of Wales at Swansea University and historian and writer on Welsh arts and culture; this year’s judging panel also features: poet and scholar, Professor Kurt Heinzelman; Alison Hindell, Head of Audio Drama, UK for the BBC; novelist and Professor Sarah Moss, and author Prajwal Parajuly.
This year’s shortlist combined short stories, poetry and prose. Alongside Fiona McFarlane, the five other shortlisted writers were Anuk Arudpragasam (Sri Lanka), The Story of a Brief Marriage, Granta; Alys Conran (UK), Pigeon, Parthian; Luke Kennard (UK), Cain, Penned in the Margins; Sarah Perry (UK), The Essex Serpent, Serpent’s Tail and Callan Wink (US), Dog Run Moon: Stories, Granta.
2016: Max Porter, 'Grief is the Thing With Feathers'
'Grief is the Thing with Feathers' wins £30,000 International Dylan Thomas Prize in partnership with Swansea University
Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter was on Saturday 14 May, named as the winner of the 10th International Dylan Thomas Prize, in partnership with Swansea University.
Grief is the Thing with Feathers, published by Faber & Faber, is the debut book – part novella, part polyphonic fable, part essay on grief – by Max Porter, a senior editor at Granta and Portobello Books.
Chair of judges Professor Dai Smith (Raymond Williams Research Chair in the Cultural History of Wales at Swansea University) said:
“Max Porter, the judges felt, takes the common place of grief, the pall of death, the loss of loved ones, the things that we will all experience and transforms the ordinary through an extraordinary feat of imaginative prose, but prose that slips in to poetry and out again. The way it plays with the archetypal figure of Ted Hughes’ Crow is both astonishing and beguiling. It is funny, it is deeply moving and it is a book that the judges are proud to see as the winner of the 2016 International Dylan Thomas Prize, in partnership with Swansea University.”
Inspired by Crow, the collection of poems by Ted Hughes, Grief is the Thing with Feathers is the story of two young boys who face the unbearable sadness of their mother's sudden death. Their father, a Ted Hughes scholar and scruffy romantic, imagines a future of well-meaning visitors and emptiness. In this moment of despair they are visited by Crow - antagonist, trickster, healer, babysitter. This sentimental bird is drawn to the grieving family and threatens to stay until they no longer need him. As weeks turn to months and the pain of loss gives way to memories, the little unit of three starts to heal.
The £30,000 prize was presented to Max Porter at a gala ceremony in Swansea University’s Great Hall on its new Bay Campus.
Today, 14 May, is also International Dylan Day, an annual celebration of the life and work of Dylan Thomas, marking the date Under Milk Wood was first read on stage at 92Y The Poetry Center, New York in 1953.
2016 is the 10th anniversary of the prize, which supports and nurtures young writing talent from around the world. One of the richest awards available for young fiction writers, the £30,000 International Dylan Thomas Prize is awarded to the best published literary work of fiction in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.
The prize is named after 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. Eligible works include poetry, novels, short stories and drama.
Together with Professor Dai Smith, this year’s judges were Sarah Hall (author), Professor Kurt Heinzelman (poet), Phyllida Lloyd (film and theatre director), Kamila Shamsie (author), and Professor Owen Sheers (novelist, poet and playwright).
This year’s shortlist combined poetry and prose. Alongside Max Porter, the five other shortlisted writers were Claire-Louise Bennett (UK), Pond, Fitzcarraldo Editions; Tania James (USA), The Tusk that Did the Damage, Harvill Secker [UK] / Alfred A. Knopf [US]; Frances Leviston (UK), Disinformation, Picador; Andrew McMillan (UK), Physical, Jonathan Cape and Sunjeev Sahota (UK), The Year of the Runaways, Picador.
2014: Joshua Ferris, 'To Rise Again at a Decent Hour'
The 2014 Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers, which is sponsored by Swansea University, has been won by Joshua Ferris with To Rise Again at a Decent Hour (Viking).
Now in its ninth year this is open to any published author in the English language aged 39 and under.
It celebrates the legacy of Swansea poet and writer Dylan Thomas, and the importance of creativity and literary excellence in the contemporary world.
To Rise Again at a Decent Hour, which was also shortlisted for the 2014 Man Booker Prize, is a darkly comic novel about the meaning of life, the certainty of death, and the importance of good oral hygiene.
Joshua Ferris is the author of two previous novels:Then We Came to the End, which was nominated for the National Book Award, won the PEN/Hemingway Award and was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and the highly acclaimed The Unnamed. In 2010 Joshua was selected for The New Yorker's '20 Under 40' list of fiction writers. He lives in New York.
Joshua will receive £30,000 and a limited edition bronze cast of Dylan Thomas.
Peter Stead, Founder and President of the International Dylan Thomas Prize, said: “Joshua Ferris’ book, about a New York dentist faced with the frustration of his job, his sexual relationships and his identity is drawn into a wider world in which he discovers the role of electronic media and mysterious religious cults in shaping not only his life, but also his identity. A novel which encapsulates the frustration, energy and humour that goes into the making of New York.”
Peter Florence, Founder of the Hay Festival and Chair of the judging panel said: “People who can make comedy from human comedy are rare and wonderful. It’s an incredibly hard thing to do and takes a kind of genius to deliver it on the page.”
Professor John Spurr, Head of the College of Arts and Humanities at Swansea University, which sponsors the prize, said: "Swansea University is deeply proud of our partnership with the Prize. We have common goals: we aim to nurture talent, to celebrate creativity, and to achieve international excellence. We want to take the best of Swansea to the world and bring artists, scholars and students from around the globe to South Wales."
The 2014 judging panel consisted of: founder of the Hay Festival, Peter Florence; novelist and Telegraph columnist, Allison Pearson; author, singer, BBC 6 music presenter and Honorary Fellow of Swansea University , Cerys Matthews MBE ; journalist and author, Carolyn Hitt; commentator and artist, Nicholas Wroe; poet and English professor at the University of Texas, Kurt Heinzelman; India-based poet, novelist, journalist and dancer, Tishani Doshi; and Founder and President of the International Dylan Thomas Prize, Professor Peter Stead.
The shortlisted internationally-acclaimed writers, who come from a rich mix of background influences: Wales, England, Ireland, Jamaica, the United States, Russia and New Zealand were:
- Joshua Ferris, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour (Viking),
- Naomi Wood, Mrs Hemingway (Picador)
- Kseniya Melnik, Snow in May (Fourth Estate).
- Kei Miller, The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion (Carcanet Press) ,
- Owen Sheers, Mametz (National Theatre Wales),
- Eimear McBride, A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing (Galley Beggar/Faber & Faber).
- Eleanor Catton,The Luminaries (Granta).
2013: Claire Vaye Watkins, 'Battleborn'
The 2013 Dylan Thomas Prize for young writers, which is sponsored by Swansea University, has been won by Claire Vaye Watkins, with Battleborn, a collection of short stories set in her native Nevada.
Now in its seventh year, the international prize celebrates the legacy of Swansea poet and writer Dylan Thomas.
It celebrates the legacy of Swansea poet and writer Dylan Thomas, who wrote most of his work in his twenties.
Battleborn interrogates the myth of the American West. The subjects of her tales include a man who finds a cache of letters, pills and a photograph abandoned by the side of the road, and writes to the man he imagines left them behind, only to reveal moving truths about himself.
Chair of the judging panel, Peter Florence, said:
“Claire Vaye Watkins has some of Dylan Thomas’s extraordinary skill in the short story form of giving you a perfect vision of a complete world and that’s extraordinarily rare.”
Cerys Matthews, singer and musician and another of the judges, added:
“Battleborn just bubbles. She is such a natural writer. The whole book is so infectious, it leaves you looking forward to what is coming next from this exceptional young author.”
Claire Vaye Watkins said:
"It has been such an honour and a treat and a barrel of laughs to spend time with all the shortlisted authors.
Battleborn was written for the Dylans of the world, the people from the so-called backwaters. It was not written for New York or London. It was written for people like you and like Dylan".
Claire will receive a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze cast of Dylan Thomas.
Professor John Spurr, Head of the College of Arts and Humanities at Swansea University, which sponsors the prize, said:
"Swansea University is delighted to sponsor the Dylan Thomas Prize. Our partnership with the Prize is based on common goals: we aim to identify and nurture talent, to celebrate creativity, and to achieve international excellence.
We want to take the best of Swansea to the world and bring artists, scholars and students from around the globe to South Wales.
As an ambitious, research intensive university, Swansea thrives on the creativity of students and staff. We applaud all of the shortlisted writers and will watch their future careers with pride."
Claire Vaye Watkins was born in Bishop, California in 1984. She is a graduate of the University of Nevada Reno.
Her stories and essays have appeared in Granta, One Story, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, Best of the West 2011, New Stories from the Southwest 2013, the New York Times and elsewhere.
The 2013 judging panel consisted of: founder of the Hay Festival, Peter Florence; novelist and Telegraph columnist, Allison Pearson; author, singer and BBC 6 music presenter, Cerys Matthews; journalist and author, Carolyn Hitt; commentator and artist, Kim Howells; Guardian Review journalist, Nicholas Wroe; poet and English professor at the University of Texas, Kurt Heinzelman, and Chairman of the Dylan Thomas Prize, Peter Stead.
The shortlist, (pictured left) which was entirely made up of debut works, was:
• Tim Leach, The Last King of Lydia
• Marli Roode, Call It Dog
• Majok Tulba, Beneath the Darkening Sky
• Claire Vaye Watkins, Battleborn
• Prajwal Parajuly, The Gurkha's Daughter
• James Brookes, Sins of the Leopard
• Jemma King, The Shape of a Forest
Chair of the Dylan Thomas Prize, Peter Stead, said:
"The books on this year's shortlist indicate the truly international scope of the Dylan Thomas Prize.
There are two young poets, one English, one Welsh and five prose writers from around the world whose stories take us to Nepal, war-torn Sudan, South Africa, Nevada and the Near East of Classical times”.
2014 is the centenary of the birth of Dylan Thomas. In addition to sponsoring the Dylan Thomas Prize, other highlights of Swansea University’s activity to mark the centenary include:
- Dylan Unchained – an international academic conference on Dylan Thomas at Swansea University in September 2014
- New edition of Dylan Thomas’s poetry - publication of a new and authorised complete edition, edited by Professor John Goodby, an international authority on the poet.
- New study of Thomas’s work – Professor John Goodby has just launched a major study of Dylan Thomas, re-evaluating his work for the 21st century.
- Taking literature to the wider world - our poets, novelists, dramatists and critics will take their work to the wider world through literary festivals, including Hay, during 2014
- Dylan Thomas in Chinese – the University and the City and County of Swansea are funding a visit by Chinese poet Wu Fu-Sheng, Professor at the University of Salt Lake City, who will be working on the first substantial translation of Thomas’s poetry into Mandarin Chinese. It has been agreed that the selected poems will be published by a State publishing house.