Wales Book of the Year 2024: Judging panel and venue details announced

Literature Wales has announced the judges for the Wales Book of the Year Award 2024, along with the location for the Awards Ceremony. 

Nation.Cymru is also excited to be welcomed to the Wales Book of the Year family this year, as new hosts of the People’s Choice Prize, while Golwg360, the Welsh-language news outlet, will host the Barn y Bobl vote.

Wales Book of the Year is the national literary award for Wales. Celebrating outstanding literary talent from Wales across a range of genres in English and Welsh, it offers an invaluable platform to both emerging and established writers.

Celebration

Wales Book of the Year plays an essential role in Literature Wales’ programme of activity and their aim to celebrate and represent Wales’ writers, heritage, and rich literary culture.

There are four categories in each language – Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, and Children & Young People, with one of the category winners in each language announced as the Overall Winner and claiming the title of Wales Book of the Year and Llyfr y Flwyddyn 2024.

In addition, the People’s Choice and Barn y Bobl prizes are awarded following a public vote. 

Judges

On the English-language judging panel this year are writer, journalist, and chair of Wales PEN Cymru Dylan Moore; writer, Royal Society of Literature Fellow and experienced mentor Patrice Lawrence; novelist, playwright, and Dylan Thomas Prize winner Rachel Trezise; and poet, novelist, and former Chair of the T.S. Eliot Prize Pascale Petit.

This year’s Welsh-language judging panel are poet and WJEC Welsh Literature Senior Examiner Tudur Dylan Jones; actor, director, and writer Hanna Jarman; writer and Senior Lecturer at the School of Welsh, Cardiff University Rhiannon Marks; and producer, director, writer, and former S4C Content Commissioner Nici Beech.

Rachel Tresize said: “I feel proud and fortunate to be one of the Wales Book of the Year judges this year. The experience has been fulfilling and fun but also quite frightening and complex, constantly having to keep an open mind and read outside of my own tastes.

“Creating a shortlist will be a mammoth task. The breadth of styles and subject matter is considerable and the quality very high.”

To find out more about the panel of judges, head to the Wales Book of the Year Project Page.

Awards Ceremony 

The Wales Book of the Year Award Ceremony will be held at Galeri in Caernarfon on Thursday 4 July.

Steffan Thomas, Galeri Chief Executive said: “It’s a pleasure to welcome the Wales Book of the Year Awards Ceremony back to Caernarfon, and here to Galeri this July.

“This will be the third time the ceremony has been held at Galeri and we are looking forward to welcoming the leading writers and poets of Wales, and the public together to this important annual celebration in the literary calendar.”

Ceremony tickets will be available to purchase from Galeri following the Shortlist announcement in May, with all the details published on the Literature Wales website. 

Partners

Literature Wales is pleased to welcome new sponsors and partners: Principal Sponsors Cardiff University School of English, Communication and Philosophy will sponsor the English language Overall Wales Book of the Year Award. They also welcome Brecon Carreg, Penderyn Distillery, and Cwrw Llŷn on board as Awards Ceremony Sponsors,.

Professor Mark Llewellyn, Head of the School of English, Communication and Philosophy (ENCAP) said: “We are delighted to become sponsors of the Wales Book of the Year Award. ENCAP’s staff and student creative writers and literary researchers will benefit enormously from the expertise, knowledge and experience offered by the Literature Wales team and the opportunities to participate in events and engagement with the writers, judges and reader communities.”

The public will have an opportunity to voice their opinion once again this year, by voting for their favourite from the shortlisted titles.

Once again, Literature Wales be working with BBC Cymru Wales to bring the latest news including announcing the Shortlist during the week of 13 May.

Visit Literature Wales for more information.