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The longlisted book for the Wales Book of the Year 2007 Award, The Man Who Went Into The West by Byron Rogers was awarded the £10,000 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography at a ceremony at the Edinburgh Festival on Saturday.

The award ranks Rogers alongside previous James Tait Black prizewinners like Lytton Strachey, GM Trevelyan, Evelyn Waugh, Walter de la Mare, DH Lawrence, Arnold Bennett, JB Priestley, Aldous Huxley and Graham Greene.

But his book, described by London critics as “touched by genius”, “a masterpiece”, and “brilliant – deserves every literary gong going”, failed to make the shortlist for the Wales Book of the Year Award .

Byron Rogers’s insights into the life of R. S. Thomas, the enigmatic and controversial character, who was the best English language poet of his generation, were trumped by Mr Cassini, a surreal novel by Lloyd Jones.

Writer and broadcaster Carolyn Hitt, who chaired the award’s judging panel, told the Western Mail, “I thought it was a fantastic book and it was one of my favourites…What I loved about it was that in a biography you never really get the essence of the person, but it was so different the way Byron explored his life. I thought he handled the genre of biography in a really fresh way and I’ve been a fan of his writing for years."

She said it was no surprise to learn that he had won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

“But in the end we all agreed that Mr Cassini was really special,” she said, adding that all three judges had described being “blown away” by the book.

Ms Hitt said the most exciting aspect of judging the award had been the wealth of good writing coming out of Wales.

“There were so many strong contenders. The books that made the long list were all winners, and they included Danny Abse and Sarah Walters, who is on the Booker list,” she said.

The award is the second honour Rogers has received from his peers this month, following his induction as a member of the Gorsedd y Beirdd at the National Eisteddfod in Mold.