Wales Book of the Year
Encyclopedia
The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh
literary award
given annually to the best Welsh
and English language
works in the fields of fiction
and literary criticism
by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently administered by Literature Wales, and supported by the Arts Council of Wales
, Welsh Assembly Government
and the Welsh Books Council
.
The longlist of ten works in each language is published in April and the shortlist of three works in each language at the Hay Festival
in May. The winners are announced in June or July. Since 2006, the winners have each received £10,000. From 2007, four runners-up (two in each language) also each receive £1000. In 2009, Media Wales sponsored a voted "People's Choice" award for the English-language works.
Welsh language
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
literary award
Literary award
A literary award is an award presented to an author who has written a particularly lauded piece or body of work. There are awards for forms of writing ranging from poetry to novels. Many awards are also dedicated to a certain genre of fiction or non-fiction writing . There are also awards...
given annually to the best Welsh
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
and English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
works in the fields of fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
and literary criticism
Literary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently administered by Literature Wales, and supported by the Arts Council of Wales
Arts Council of Wales
The Arts Council of Wales is a Welsh Government sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales.Established by Royal Charter in 1946, as the Welsh Arts Council , when it merged with the three Welsh regional arts associations...
, Welsh Assembly Government
Welsh Assembly Government
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...
and the Welsh Books Council
Welsh Books Council
The Welsh Books Council or Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru was established in 1961 under the name of Cyngor Llyfrau Cymraeg . Today it is funded by the Welsh Assembly Government. The Council's aims are to promote the interest in Welsh language books and English language books of interest to Wales...
.
The longlist of ten works in each language is published in April and the shortlist of three works in each language at the Hay Festival
Hay Festival
The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales for ten days from May to June. Devised by Norman and Peter Florence in 1988, the festival was described by Bill Clinton in 2001 as "The Woodstock of the mind"...
in May. The winners are announced in June or July. Since 2006, the winners have each received £10,000. From 2007, four runners-up (two in each language) also each receive £1000. In 2009, Media Wales sponsored a voted "People's Choice" award for the English-language works.
Winners
English language- 2011: John Harrison Cloud Road (Parthian)
- 2010: Philip GrossPhilip GrossPhilip Gross is a poet, novelist and playwright. He was born in Delabole, Cornwall and grew up in Plymouth. He lives in Penarth, South Wales, and was appointed Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Glamorgan in 2004, a position he still holds. He previously taught creative writing at...
I Spy Pinhole Eye (Cinnamon Press) - 2009: Deborah Kay Davies Grace, Tamar and Laszlo the Beautiful (Parthian BooksParthian BooksParthian Books is an independent publishers based in Cardigan. It was founded in 1993. Parthian is an editorially-led publishing house, which publishes a range of contemporary fiction, poetry, drama as well as art books...
) - 2008: Dannie AbseDannie AbseDaniel Abse, better known as Dannie Abse , is a Welsh poet.-Early years:Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales to a Jewish family. He is the younger brother of politician and reformer Leo Abse and the eminent psychoanalyst, Wilfred Abse...
The Presence (HutchinsonHutchinson (publisher)Hutchinson & Co. was an English book publisher, founded in 1887. The company merged with Century Publishing in 1985 to form Century Hutchinson, and was folded into the British Random House Group in 1989, where it remains as an imprint in the Cornerstone Publishing division...
) - 2007: Lloyd Jones Mr Cassini (SerenSeren PressSeren Books is a small independent publisher of English language books by authors living in Wales. Seren's aim is to bring Welsh literature to a wider audience. The press takes its name from the Welsh word for 'star'....
) - 2006: Robert MinhinnickRobert MinhinnickRobert Minhinnick is a Welsh poet, essayist, novelist and translator.Minhinnick was born in Neath, and now lives in Porthcawl. He studied at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and University of Wales, Cardiff. An environmental campaigner, he co-founded the charities Friends of the Earth and...
To Babel and Back (Seren) - 2005: Owen SheersOwen SheersOwen Sheers is a Welsh poet, author, playwright, actor and TV presenter.-Biography:Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974 and brought up in Abergavenny, South Wales...
The Dust DiariesThe Dust DiariesThe Dust Diaries is an award-winning book by Owen Sheers, published in 2004.In this work, Sheers traces the travels of his great-great-uncle, Arthur Shearly Cripps. The book was named "Welsh Book of the Year 2005".-References:*...
(Faber and FaberFaber and FaberFaber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
) - 2004: Niall GriffithsNiall GriffithsNiall Griffiths is an author, who has published six books to date. He has also written travel pieces, restaurant and book reviews, and radio plays...
Stump (Jonathan CapeJonathan CapeJonathan Cape was a London-based publisher founded in 1919 as "Page & Co" by Herbert Jonathan Cape , formerly a manager at Duckworth who had worked his way up from a position of bookshop errand boy. Cape brought with him the rights to cheap editions of the popular author Elinor Glyn and sales of...
) - 2003: Charlotte Williams Sugar and Slate (Planet)
- 2002: Stevie DaviesStevie DaviesStevie Davies is an award-winning Welsh novelist. She is currently a lecturer at the Swansea University, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature....
The Element of Water (The Women’s Press) - 2001: Stephen Knight Mr Schnitzel (VikingViking PressViking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
) - 2000: Sheenagh PughSheenagh PughSheenagh Pugh is a British poet, novelist and translator who writes in the English language.-Life:Sheenagh Pugh studied languages at the University of Bristol. She now lives in Shetland but lived for many years in Cardiff and taught creative writing at the University of Glamorgan until retiring in...
Stonelight (Seren) - 1999: Emyr HumphreysEmyr HumphreysEmyr Humphreys is a leading Welsh novelist, poet and author. He was born at Prestatyn in Flintshire, and attended University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He registered as a conscientious objector at the outbreak of the Second World War...
The Gift of a Daughter (Seren) - 1998: Mike JenkinsMike Jenkins (poet)Mike Jenkins is a poet, story writer and novelist. Born in Aberystwyth, Jenkins was educated at the University College of Wales.Work...
Wanting to Belong (Seren) - 1997: Siân JamesSian James (novelist)Siân James is a Welsh novelist who writes in English.James was born near Llandysul in Carmarthenshire, and attended the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. She is a Fellow of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Glamorgan. She is a Fellow...
Not Singing Exactly (HonnoHonno (press)Honno is a Welsh women's press, based in Aberystwyth, which is run as an independent co-operative. The press concentrates solely on publishing writing by the women of Wales, with the twin aims of increasing publication opportunities for Welsh women and expanding the audience for Welsh women's writing...
) - 1996: Nigel JenkinsNigel JenkinsNigel Jenkins is one of Wales's foremost poets. Jenkins is also an editor, journalist, broadcaster and writer of creative non-fiction...
Gwalia in Khasia (GomerGomer PressGomer Press is a printing and publishing company based in Llandysul, west Wales. The company was first established in 1892 and is owned by the same family to this day. Jonathan Lewis, the great grandson of the company's founder, is the current managing director...
) - 1995: Duncan Bush Masks (Seren)
- 1994: Paul Ferris Caitlin: The Life of Caitlin Thomas (Hutchinson)
- 1993: Robert MinhinnickRobert MinhinnickRobert Minhinnick is a Welsh poet, essayist, novelist and translator.Minhinnick was born in Neath, and now lives in Porthcawl. He studied at University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and University of Wales, Cardiff. An environmental campaigner, he co-founded the charities Friends of the Earth and...
Watching the Fire Eater (Seren) - 1992: Emyr HumphreysEmyr HumphreysEmyr Humphreys is a leading Welsh novelist, poet and author. He was born at Prestatyn in Flintshire, and attended University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He registered as a conscientious objector at the outbreak of the Second World War...
Bonds of Attachment (Macdonald/Sphere)
Welsh language
- 2011: Ned Thomas, Bydoedd (Y Lolfa)
- 2010: John DaviesJohn Davies (historian)John Davies is a Welsh historian, and a television and radio broadcaster.Davies was born in the Rhondda, Wales, and studied at both University College, Cardiff, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He is married with four children...
, Cymru: Y 100 lle i'w gweld cyn marw (Y Lolfa) - 2009: Wiliam Owen RobertsWiliam Owen RobertsWilliam Owen Roberts , is a Welsh language novelist and writer of plays for radio, television and theatre.He was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, and studied Welsh Literature and Theatre Studies at the University of Wales from 1978 to 1981....
Petrograd (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas) - 2008: Gareth Miles Y Proffwyd a'l Ddwy Jesebel (HutchinsonHutchinson (publisher)Hutchinson & Co. was an English book publisher, founded in 1887. The company merged with Century Publishing in 1985 to form Century Hutchinson, and was folded into the British Random House Group in 1989, where it remains as an imprint in the Cornerstone Publishing division...
) - 2007: Llwyd OwenLlwyd OwenLlwyd Owen is an award-winning Welsh-language fiction author born in Cardiff in 1977. He lives in Cardiff with his wife and daughter and works as a translator when not writing fiction...
Ffydd Gobaith Cariad (Y LolfaY LolfaY Lolfa is a Welsh printing and publishing company based in Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion in Mid-Wales. It publishes a wide variety of books in Welsh and English. It also provides a commercial print service. Y Lolfa was established in 1967 by Robat Gruffudd...
) - 2006: Rhys Evans Gwynfor: Rhag Pob Brad (Y Lolfa)
- 2005: Caryl Lewis Martha, Jac a Sianco (Y Lolfa)
- 2004: Jerry HunterJerry HunterT. Gerald Hunter, more commonly known as Jerry Hunter, is an American graduate of Cincinnati , Aberystwyth and Harvard . Originally from Cincinnati, he now lives in Wales and has held academic posts at Cardiff and more recently Bangor University, where he is currently a Reader in the School of...
Llwch Cenhedloedd (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch) - 2003: Angharad PriceAngharad PriceAngharad Price is a Welsh academic and novelist.Price was born in Bethel, Gwynedd, Wales, the daughter of the Welsh historian Emyr Price. She graduated with a BA and DPhil in Modern Languages from Jesus College, Oxford. She teaches at Bangor University and works on Welsh prose of the modern era...
O! Tyn y Gorchudd (GomerGomer PressGomer Press is a printing and publishing company based in Llandysul, west Wales. The company was first established in 1892 and is owned by the same family to this day. Jonathan Lewis, the great grandson of the company's founder, is the current managing director...
) - 2002: Grahame DaviesGrahame Davies (Journalist)Grahame Davies is a poet, editor and literary critic. He was brought up in the former coal mining village of Coedpoeth near Wrexham in north east Wales.-Education:...
Cadwyni Rhyddid (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas) - 2001: Owen Martell Cadw dy ffydd, brawd (Gomer)
- 2000: Gwyneth LewisGwyneth LewisGwyneth Lewis is a Welsh poet, and was the first National Poet for Wales.-Biography:Born into a Welsh speaking family, Lewis's father started teaching her English when her mother went into hospital to give birth to her sister....
Y Llofrudd Iaith (Cyhoeddiadau Barddas) - 1999: R. M. Jones Ysbryd y Cwlwm: Delwedd y Genedl yn ein Llenyddiaeth (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru)
- 1998: Iwan Llwyd Dan Ddylanwad (Gwasg Tâf)
- 1997: Gerwyn Wiliams Tir Neb: Rhyddiaith Gymraeg a’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru)
- 1996: Sonia Edwards Glöynnod (Gwasg Gwynedd)
- 1995: Aled Islwyn Unigolion, Unigeddau (Gomer)
- 1994: T. Robin Chapman W.J. Gruffydd (Gwasg Prifysgol Cymru)
- 1993: Robin LlywelynRobin LlywelynRobin Llywelyn is a Welsh novelist, writing in both Welsh and English. His works include From Empty Harbour to White Ocean, winner of the National Eisteddfod Prose Medal...
Seren Wen ar Gefndir Gwyn (Gomer) - 1992: Gerallt Lloyd OwenGerallt Lloyd OwenGerallt Lloyd Owen is considered one of the best "strict metre poets" in Wales. He began as a "political poet" in the 1960s, often using Medieval forms or imagery for purposes of Welsh nationalism. His political works at times satirized the failings of the Welsh people, or Welsh history, rather...
Cilmeri (Gwasg Gwynedd)