Dylan Thomas Prize

The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published writers in the English language under the age of thirty. The prize was originally awarded bi-annually, but became an annual award in 2010. Entries for the prize are submitted by the publisher, editor, or agent; for theatre plays and screenplays, by the producer.

A Dylan Thomas literary prize was first awarded during the 1980s, known as the Dylan Thomas Award, following the campaign to have a plaque in the poet's memory placed in Westminster Abbey. Surplus income from a fund-raising concert sponsored by the television company HTV were donated to allow a prize of £1000 to be awarded annually. After several years, the prize was discontinued for lack of finance. It was revived, in a different form, in 2004, sponsored by Electronic Data Systems, at that time one of Swansea's largest employers.

The Prize honours its shortlist finalists and annual winner for published work in the broad range of literary forms in which Dylan Thomas excelled, including poetry, prose, fictional drama, short story collections, novels, novellas, stage plays and screenplays. “We want the world to be aware of the Welsh interest in promoting new writing. Our Prize provides an inspiration for a whole new generation of writers throughout the English-speaking world,” said Peter Stead, Chair of The Dylan Thomas Prize.

2014

Winner

• Joshua Ferris, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour

Shortlist

• Eleanor Catton, The Luminaries
• Eimear McBride, A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing
• Kseniya Melnik, Snow in May
• Kei Miller, The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion
• Owen Sheers, Mametz
• Naomi Wood, Mrs.Hemingway

2013

Winner

• Claire Vaye Watkins, Battleborn

Shortlist

• Tim Leach, The Last King Of Lydia
• Marli Roode, Call It Dog
• Majok Tulba, Beneath The Darkening Sky
• James Brookes, Sins Of The Leopard
• Jemma L King, The Shape Of A Forest
• Claire Vaye Watkins, Battleborn
• Prajwal Parajuly, The Gurkha's Daughter

2012

Winner

• Maggie Shipstead, Seating Arrangements

Shortlist

• Tom Benn, The Doll Princess
• Andrea Eames, The White Shadow
• Chibundu Onuzo, The Spider King’s Daughter
• Maggie Shipstead, Seating Arrangements
• D.W. Wilson, Once You Break A Knuckle

2011

Winner

• Lucy Caldwell, The Meeting Point

Shortlist

• Lucy Caldwell, The Meeting Point
• Benjamin Hale, The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore
• Jacob McArthur Mooney, Folk
• Téa Obreht, The Tiger’s Wife
• Annabel Pitcher, My Sister Lives on the Mantelpiece

2010

Winner

• Elyse Fenton, Clamor

Shortlist

• Caroline Bird, Watering Can
• Elyse Fenton, Clamor
• Eleanor Catton, The Rehearsal
• Karan Mahajan, Family Planning
• Nadifa Mohamed, Black Mamba Boy
• Emily Mackie, And this is true

2008

Winner

• Nam Le, The Boat

Shortlist

• Caroline Bird, Trouble Came to the Turnip
• Ross Raisin, God’s Own Country
• Ceridwen Dovey, Blood Kin
• Edward Hogan, Blackmoor
• Nam Le, The Boat
• Dinaw Mengestu, Children of the Revolution

2006

Winner

• Rachel Trezise, Fresh Apples

Shortlist

• Lucy Caldwell, Where They Were Missed
• Ian Holding, Unfeeling
• Nick Laird, Utterly Monkey and To a Fault (Two entries)
• James Scudamore, The Amnesia Clinic
• Rachel Trezise, Fresh Apples
• Liza Ward, Outside Valentine

External links

• The Dylan Thomas Prize, official website

• About, The Dylan Prize website
• New Writing International, 22 Sept 2006
• http://www.swansea.ac.uk/dylan-thomas-prize/the-prize-2014/