Dylan Thomas Prize

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.

WINNER 2023

God's children are little broken things

Ifeakandu, Arinze ISBN: 9781399606271
Paperback / softback

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In this stunning debut from one of Nigeria's most promising young writers, the stakes of love meet a society in flux. A man revisits the university campus where he lost his first love, aware now of what he couldn't understand then. A daughter returns home to Lagos after the death of her father, where she must face her past - and future -relationship with his longtime partner.

A young musician rises to fame at the risk of losing himself and the man who loves him. Generations collide, families break and are remade, languages and cultures intertwine, and lovers find their ways to futures; from childhood through adulthood; on university campuses, city centres, and neighbourhoods where church bells mingle with the morning call to prayer. These nine stories of queer male intimacy brim with simmering secrecy, ecstasy, loneliness and love in their depictions of what it means to be gay in contemporary Nigeria.

- Browns Books Synopsis

The Prize is awarded to the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under. Dylan Thomas, the quintessential adolescent writer, was ideally suited to serve as an inspiration to young writers everywhere. The freshness and immediacy of his writing were qualities that he never lost. The Prize seeks to ensure that readers today will have the chance to savour the vitality and sparkle of a new generation of young writers.