The Future of Welsh Literature
The winning manuscripts for this year’s New Welsh Writing Awards were revealed at Hay Fest yesterday.
Peter Goulding won in the Rheidol category with On Slate and JL George won in the dystopian novella category with The Word. The winning authors were presented with their prizes of £1,000 as an advance against e-publication by New Welsh Review and a critique by top London literary agent Curtis Brown, Cathryn Summerhayes.
ABERYSTWYTH UNIVERSITY PRIZE FOR A DYSTOPIAN NOVELLA
WINNERS
FIRST PLACE: JL George (Pontypool, Wales) – The Word
SECOND PLACE: Rhiannon Lewis (Abergavenny, Wales) – The Significance of Swans
THIRD PLACE: Rosey Brown (Cardiff, Wales) – Adrift
RHEIDOL PRIZE FOR WRITING WITH A WELSH THEME OR SETTING
WINNERS
FIRST PLACE: Peter Goulding (Thetford, England) – On Slate (Non-fiction)
SECOND PLACE: Sarah Tanburn (Penarth, Wales) – Hawks of Dust and Wine (Fiction)
THIRD PLACE: Richard John Parfitt (Penarth, Wales) – Tales from the Riverbank (Non-fiction)
The New Welsh Writing Awards 2019 sought new works of between 5,000 – 30,000 words across two categories: the Aberystwyth University Prize for a Dystopian Novella (judged by NWR editor Gwen Davies) and the Rheidol Prize for Writing with a Welsh Theme or Setting (co-judged by Cynan Jones and NWR editor Gwen Davies).
The second prize winners received £300 vouchers towards a week-long residential course at Tŷ Newydd Writing Centre in Gwynedd, North Wales; and third prizes were for a two-night stay at Gladstone’s Library in Flintshire, North Wales. The top six shortlisted authors also received a one-year subscription to New Welsh Review.
