Bangor University becomes new sponsor of two Wales Book of the Year awards

Bangor University has become the new sponsors of two Wales Book of the Year award categories.

The university will sponsor the Welsh language Fiction Award and the English language Poetry Award.

The Welsh@BangorUni Fiction Award will be awarded to the best work of fiction in the Welsh language published in the previous year. The English@BangorUni Poetry Award will be given to the best English language poetry collection.

The Wales Book of the Year award is an annual prize celebrating outstanding literary talent from Wales across many genres in both Welsh and English. There are twelve awards in total, including an overall winner who will claim the title Wales Book of the Year 2022.

The shortlisted titles for the Welsh language awards will be announced on Monday 20 June on BBC Radio Cymru. The shortlist for the English language awards will be announced on The Arts Show, BBC Radio Wales, on Friday 1 July.

As usual, after the shortlist is announced, readers will be able to vote for their favourite title on the shortlist via the independent People’s Choice Awards on the Wales Arts Review and Golwg360 websites.

‘Privilege’

Professor Ruth McElroy, Professor of Creative Industries and Head of the School of Arts, Culture and Language at Bangor University, said that Bangor University had a long tradition of cultivating literary talent, in both Welsh and English.

“It is a privilege to sponsor these awards and contribute to highlighting and celebrating the writers of the future, in addition to providing the opportunity to study the treasures of our literatures,” she said.

Commenting on the new sponsorship, Leusa Llewelyn Literature Wales Joint Interim CEO said: “We are grateful for Bangor University’s support and look forward to collaborating to celebrate Wales’ literary culture.”

This year’s English language judging panel includes the poet and writer Krystal Lowe, journalist and broadcaster Andy Welch, author and presenter Matt Brown, and poet and recipient of a 2020 Rising Star Award Taylor Edmonds.

The Welsh language judges include Gwion Hallam, Mirain Iwerydd, Melanie Owen and Siwan Rosser.