Sasha Debevec-McKenney, winner of the 2026 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.
American poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney has been announced as the winner of the world’s largest and most prestigious literary prize for young writers – the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize – for her debut collection Joy Is My Middle Name.
Chosen in a unanimous decision by this year’s judging panel, Joy Is My Middle Name documents the journey of crawling through your twenties and emerging into your thirties, navigating sex, race, womanhood, addiction, sobriety, consumerism and pop culture.
The judging panel praised Sasha, 35, for her energising, exuberant and robust collection, condensing huge ideas into something that is truly a joy to read.
Irenosen Okojie, Chair of Judges, said on behalf of the panel: “Incredible. An exuberant, blistering collection full of life, humour and ideas. Debevec-McKenney is a ferociously gifted talent. The book is remarkable in the way it galvanises the reader with a sense of intimacy that is authentic and a voice that feels like an antidote to our tricky times.”
Sasha Debevec-McKenney was awarded the £20,000 prize, which celebrates exceptional literary talent aged 39 or under, at a ceremony held in Swansea University’s Great Hall, marking International Dylan Thomas Day.
Reflecting on her win, Sasha Debevec-McKenney said: “I really love writing poems, it makes life worth living. Every emotion I’ve ever had, there’s a poem for it. To get this prize feels completely unbelievable. I’m really honoured.”
Joy Is My Middle Name, which was released in paperback on 3 July 2025, is published by Fitzcarraldo Editions.
The prize is named after the Swansea-born writer Dylan Thomas and celebrates his 39 years of creativity and productivity. The prize invokes Thomas’ memory to support the writers of today, nurture the talents of tomorrow, and celebrate international literary excellence in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories, and drama.
The other titles shortlisted for the 2026 Prize were:
- To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong (Les Fugitives)
- We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown (Chatto & Windus, Vintage)
- Under the Blue by Suzannah V. Evans (Bloomsbury Poetry)
- Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt (Jonathan Cape, Vintage)
- Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu (Canongate)
The 2026 Prize was judged by Irenosen Okojie, the award-winning Nigerian British author of Curandera, Butterfly Fish, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch, along with: Joe Dunthorne, poet and novelist, whose debut Submarine, was translated into fifteen languages and made into an award-winning film; Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, poet, pacifist and fabulist; Prajwal Parajuly, author of The Gurkha’s Daughter: Stories and Land Where I Flee, a novel, whose work has been nominated for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize; and Eley Williams, acclaimed author of Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, whose work has been nominated for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.
Sasha Debevec-McKenney joins an astonishing list of writers to have been awarded this prestigious prize, including Yasmin Zaher, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Arinze Ifeakandu, Patricia Lockwood, Max Porter, Raven Leilani, Bryan Washington, Maggie Shipstead, Guy Gunaratne, and Kayo Chingonyi.