Penderyn Music Book Prize 2017 shortlist revealed

The Penderyn Music Book Prize has announced its 2017 shortlist which includes titles from music journalists Hattie Collins, Stuart Cosgrove and David Hepworth.

The prize is organised by Richard Thomas, founder of the Laugharne Weekend Festival, and is the only UK-based book prize specifically for international music titles including history, theory, biography, autobiography.

This is Grime by Hattie Collins and Olivia Rose (Hodder), Young Soul Rebels: A Personal History of Northern Soul by Stuart Cosgrove (Polygon) and 1971 - Never a Dull Moment: Rock's Golden Year by David Hepworth (Bantam) have been shortlisted for the prize alongside The Rise, The Fall, and The Rise by Brix Smith Start (Faber), Into The Maelstrom: Music, Improvisation and the Dream of Freedom by David Toop, (Bloomsbury Academic), I'm Not with The Band: A Writer's Life Lost in Music by Sylvia Patterson (Sphere), Testimony by Robbie Robertson (William Heinemann) and Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge by Daniel Rachel (Picador).

Judging the 2017 award will be comedian and musican Stewart Lee; singer Charlotte Church; joint m.d. at Rough Trade, Geoff Travis; singer and writer Tracey Thorn; musician Eliza Carthy; musician and former singer and guitarist of Sonic Youth, Thurston Moore; and Jane Beese, head of music at the Roundhouse.

Beese said: “I was thrilled to be asked to be part of the judging panel for the Penderyn Music Book Prize this year - I had read most of the books from last year as a matter of course. The range of books on the longlist for 2017 was so broad in terms of what they set out that it was going a difficult decision for us to make but Richard locked us away until we did.”

Thorn said: "This prize shines a light on great music writing - a genre that often gets overlooked. It’s a strong and varied list, with a good range of different voices and different perspectives.”

Travis added: “Never had this much reading homework before. Thank goodness the books are on my favourite subject… Music!”

Moore said: “This seems to be a vanguard time for serious music journalism as printed word, it’s as if the most engaging music is being made by writers.”

The winner will be announced at the Laugharne Weekend Festival on 9th April 2017 where they will be presented with a cheque for £1000, and a bottle of Penderyn Single Cask Whisky.

The Prize is sponsored by Welsh whisky company Pendery.