Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize longlist revealed

The longlist for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize has been revealed, featuring an international collection of young, experimental writers offering platforms for under-represented voices and exploring pressing social and world themes across identity, culture and power.

Celebrating the prize‚Äôs 15th anniversary, acclaimed Indian feminist writer and novelist Meena Kandasamy, Hong Kong born LGBTQ+ poet Mary Jean Chan, Ukrainian-born artist and writer Yelena Moskovich, Brazilian-British début novelist Yara Rodrigues Fowler, Vietnamese-American novelist Ocean Vuong, and Belgrade-born Orange Prize-winner Téa Obreht are among the 12 authors on the longlist for the £30,000 prize. This year‚Äôs longlist comprises seven novels, three poetry collections and two short story collections.

Surge by Jay Bernard (Chatto & Windus); Flèche by Mary Jean Chan (Faber & Faber); Exquisite Cadavers by Meena Kandasamy (Atlantic Books) are in the running alongside Things we say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan (Harvell Secker, Vintage); Black Car Burning by Helen Mort (Chatto & Windus) and Virtuoso by Yelena Moskovich (Serpent’s Tail).

Inland by Téa Obreht (Weidenfeld & Nicolson); Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues Fowler (Fleet) and If All the World and Love were Young by Stephen Sexton (Penguin Random House) have also been longlisted.

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay (Atlantic Books); On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong (Jonathan Cape, Vintage) and Lot by Bryan Washington (Atlantic Books) complete the list.

Worth £30,000, it is one of the UK‚Äôs most prestigious literary prizes as well as the world‚Äôs largest literary prize for young writers. Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under, the Prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama.

The 12 longlisted titles will be judged by a bumper guest panel chaired by Swansea University’s professor Dai Smith CBE, including annual judge professor Kurt Heinzelman, the award-winning writer and founder of Jaipur Literature Festival Namita Gokhale, acclaimed writer and 2011 winner of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize Lucy Caldwell, the British-Ghanaian writer, poet and critic Bridget Minamore, celebrated writer and presenter of BBC Radio 3: The Verb Ian McMillan, and national arts and culture journalist Max Liu.

Guy Gunaratne won the prize in 2029 for his début novel In Our Mad and Furious City (Tinder Press). He said: “Dylan Thomas has always meant a lot to me, he‚Äôs a writer I‚Äôve always turned to for inspiration. And after winning this prize, my mind just goes to all the other writers, or aspiring writers, who are writing from a place like where I began. A place like Neasden, somewhere I always thought was a nowhere place. But to make art out of the world, the language, the voices I grew up around I always felt was important.”

The shortlist will be announced on 7th April, followed by a British Library Event, London on the 13th May and Winner’s Ceremony held in Swansea on International Dylan Thomas Day, 14th May.