The Long List

From the tales of the Mabinogi to an account of a rural Welsh childhood in the 1920s and the diary of a modern-day police officer on the beat, the longlist for the Wales Book of the Year features an eclectic mix of subject matter and genres.

The longlists for the eighteenth Wales Book of the Year – Wales’s premier award for literature - were announced on Tuesday 20 April at The Management Centre, Bangor Business School, North Wales. The English language judges are Ian Gregson, James Hawes and Sara Edwards.

The list includes debut novels from Mike Thomas and Terri Wiltshire; Alun Trevor’s memoir of a Welsh childhood; travel writing by Horatio Clare; short stories from Emyr Humphreys and poetry from Jasmine Donahaye, Philip Gross and Richard Marggraf Turley. Peter Lord is nominated for his scholarly account of the history of Welsh painting and Nikolai Tolstoy for his analysis of the origins of the Mabinogi.
 

The Long List:

Horatio Clare, A Single Swallow, Vintage
Jasmine Donahaye, Self-Portrait as Ruth, Salt Modern Poets
Philip Gross, I Spy Pinhole Eye, Cinnamon Press
Emyr Humphreys, The Woman at the Window, Seren
Peter Lord, The Meaning of Pictures, University of Wales Press
Mike Thomas, Pocket Notebook, Heinemann
Nikolai Tolstoy, The Oldest British Prose Literature: The Compilation of the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, Edward Mellen Press
Alun Trevor, The Songbird is Singing, Parthian
Richard Marggraf Turley, Wan-Hu’s Flying Chair, Salt Modern Poets
Terri Wiltshire, Carry Me Home, Macmillan New Writing

Ian Gregson, Chair of the English-language judges said:

‘This year's list is especially exciting because almost all the best books this year were by lesser-known or younger writers, notably the two novelists and the three poets. It's also conspicuously varied in terms of genre: as well as poetry and novels, it includes nature-writing, life-writing, short stories, and two books of intriguing and challenging critical exegesis.’

Peter Finch, Academi Chief Executive commented:

The Wales Book of the Year Award means something. It marks longlisted authors as winners and gives readers a pretty reliable indication of which books they should tackle next. This year’s list includes a number of new names – a sure indicator of the vibrancy of Welsh culture – and stretches itself right across the forms. Poetry battles with short fiction, criticism is ranged against the novel. Who will win? Watch this space.”

The authors on the Welsh-language Long List are Hywel Griffiths, Haf Llewelyn, Manon Steffan Ros, Sian Owen, Siân Melangell Dafydd, Caryl Lewis, Cefin Roberts, Manon Rhys and John Davies. The judges on the Welsh-language panel are John Gwilym Jones, Aled Lewis Evans and Branwen Gwyn.