The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Swansea on Thursday, May 16, 2024.
By Hope Ibiale
African writers, Ayòbámi Adébáyò and Caleb Azumah Nelson have been announced as the writers shortlisted for the 2024 Dylan Thomas Prize. The authors were shortlisted for their literary works Small Worlds and A Spell of Good Things.
Both authors are returning contenders, with Adébáyọ̀ having been previously longlisted in 2018 for her debut novel, Stay With Me and Nelson’s Open Water shortlisted in 2022.
Other shortlisted authors include K. Blakemore, Mary Jean Chan, Joshua Jones, and Catherine Lacey. The winner will be announced at a ceremony in Swansea on Thursday, May 16, before the International Dylan Thomas Day on Tuesday, May 14, 2024.
The shortlist for this year was announced on Thursday 21st March, with Namita Gokhale, Chair of Judges, saying: “The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize has an important role to play in recognising, supporting and nurturing young writers across a rich diversity of locations and genres. The 2024 shortlist has authors from the United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Nigeria, and Ghana, and it has been a truly rewarding adventure to immersively read through this creative spectrum of voices.”
The Dylan Thomas Prize is a literary prize given to 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 award, aimed at rewarding raw creative talent worldwide, will reward the winner with a sum of £20,000.
The 2024 shortlist was selected by a judging panel chaired by writer and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, Namita Gokhale, alongside author and lecturer Jon Gower, and Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin, Seán Hewitt, former BBC Gulf Correspondent and author of Telling Tales: An Oral History of Dubai, Julia Wheeler, and interdisciplinary artist and author of Keeping the House, Tice Cin.