Caleb Azumah Nelson wins Dylan Thomas Prize for Small Worlds

British-Ghanaian author Caleb Azumah Nelson has won the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for his “anthemic” second novel Small Worlds (Viking).

The author, whose debut novel Open Water was shortlisted in 2022, was awarded the £20,000 prize at a ceremony held in Swansea today (Thursday, 16th May).

The prize is named after the Swansea-born writer Dylan Thomas and is given to the best published literary work in the English language written by an author aged 39 or under. 

Namita Gokhale, chair of 2024 Judges, said on behalf of the panel: “Amid a hugely impressive shortlist that showcased a breadth of genres and exciting new voices, we were unanimous in our praise for this viscerally moving, heartfelt novel.

“There is a musicality to Caleb Azumah Nelson’s writing, in a book equally designed to be read quietly and listened aloud. Images and ideas recur to beautiful effect, lending the symphonic nature of Small Worlds an anthemic quality, where the reader feels swept away by deeply realised characters as they traverse between Ghana and south London, trying to find some semblance of a home. Emotionally challenging yet exceptionally healing, Small Worlds feels like a balm: honest as it is about the riches and the immense difficulties of living of and away from your culture.”

The other titles shortlisted for the 2024 Prize were: A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò (Canongate Books), The Glutton by A K Blakemore (Granta), Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan (Faber & Faber), Local Fires by Joshua Jones (Parthian Books) and Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (Granta).

The 2024 prize was judged by co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival Namita Gokhale (chair), alongside author and lecturer in creative writing at Swansea University Jon Gower, writer and professor Seán Hewitt, former BBC Gulf correspondent Julia Wheeler, and interdisciplinary artist and author Tice Cin.
Last year, Arinze Ifeakandu won the prize for his “exhilarating” début God’s Children Are Little Broken Things (W&N).