News Archive

Roland Mathias Prize

Deadline: Friday 19 December 2008

The Roland Mathias Prize is a literary prize for Welsh writing in English which is awarded every two years.

The prize of £2,000 is for a work by a single author in the following categories:

• a collection of poetry
  
• a collection of short stories
  
• a work of literary criticism about Welsh literature
  
• a work of history, substantively about Wales, including biography.

To qualify for entry for the award, the book must be a published work in the English language written by a Welsh-born author or an author currently resident in Wales. The categories reflect the work and life of Roland Mathias, who played a major role in establishing Welsh writing in English as a distinctive literary genre.

The panel of judges includes poet and critic Sam Adams, novelist and poet Chris Meredith, literary historian Moira Dearnley, writer Catherine Merriman and former TV journalist Glyn Mathias. The Prize is established under the auspices of the Brecknock Society and Museum Friends

The £2,000 prize was first won in 2005 by Christine Evans for her Selected Poems (Seren), and the 2007 prize was won by Dannie Abse for his collection of poems, Running Late (Hutchinson).

For the prize to be awarded in March 2009, publishers are invited to submit books for consideration no later than 19 December 2008. The award ceremony will take place at 7.00 pm on Friday 27 March 2009 at Brecon Guildhall.

To confirm eligibility, a catalogue or information sheet may be sent in the first instance, and four copies of the book are requested for consideration by the panel of judges.

All written correspondence and submitted books should be sent to:

  Brecknock Society and Museum Friends,
  The Roland Mathias Prize,
  c/o Brecknock Museum & Gallery,
  Captain’s Walk,
   Brecon
LD3 7OW

If publishers or authors have any queries about the Roland Mathias Prize, please contact glynmathias@btinternet.com