Taylor Swift’s new album has dropped today, and the title track includes a reference to the internationally-renowned Swansea poet Dylan Thomas. “I laughed in your face and said: ‘You’re not Dylan Thomas. I’m not Patti Smith. This ain’t the Chelsea Hotel. We’re modern idiots.”
Born 110 years ago, Dylan Thomas’s legacy remains as powerful today as ever – his work has also inspired the world’s largest and most prestigious literary award for young writers: Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize. Worth £20,000, this global accolade recognises exceptional literary talent aged 39 or under, celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama.
I would love to suggest an interview connected to this story, and I wondered if you might be interested in comment from one of this year’s judges about his legacy – such as Wales’ Jon Gower: a former BBC Wales arts and media correspondent who has over 40 books to his name. These include The Story of Wales, which accompanied a landmark TV series, the travelogue An Island Called Smith and Y Storïwr which won the Wales Book of the Year.
Or one of this year’s shortlist – speaking about how they feel to be in contention for a prize that invokes the memory of Dylan Thomas: to support the writers of today, nurture the talents of tomorrow, and celebrate international literary excellence.
– A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò (Canongate Books) – novel (Nigeria)
– Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking, Penguin Random House UK) – novel (UK/Ghana)
– The Glutton by A. K. Blakemore (Granta) – novel (England, UK)
– Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan (Faber & Faber) – poetry collection (Hong Kong)
– Local Fires by Joshua Jones (Parthian Books) – short story collection (Wales, UK)
– Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (Granta) – novel (US)
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