Launched in 2006, the annual Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for young writers, aimed at encouraging raw creative talent worldwide. It celebrates and nurtures international literary excellence.
It is one of the UK’s most prestigious literary prizes as well as one of the world’s largest literary prizes 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 prize is named after the Swansea-born writer, Dylan Thomas, and celebrates his 39 years of creativity and productivity. One of the most influential, internationally-renowned writers of the mid-twentieth century, the prize invokes his memory to support the writers of today and nurture the talents of tomorrow.
This year Caleb Azumah Nelson has been announced as the winner of the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, for his novel Small Worlds (Viking, Penguin Random House UK).
Described as ‘anthemic’ by this year’s judging panel, Small Worlds tells an intimate father-son story set between South London and Ghana over the course of three summers. The win cements the thirty-year-old British-Ghanaian author as a rising star in literary fiction, following his acclaimed debut, Open Water, which was shortlisted for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize in 2022.
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 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).
