Wales Book of the Year is Wales’ national book prize, celebrating outstanding literary talent from Wales across various genres in both English and Welsh. There are four categories in each language – Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, and, for the first time this year, Children & Young People.
Wales Arts Review is very proud to once again host and sponsor the People’s Choice Award, where you, the public, get to have your say and vote for your choice of overall best book across the four categories.
To vote, click on your favourite and click VOTE.
You may vote for one title once. Any repeated votes will not be registered.
To read more about the shortlisted titles and their authors, visit www.literaturewales.org.
Judging the English-language books this year are author and illustrator Ken Wilson-Max; author, teacher and translator Sampurna Chattarji; and Fulbright Scholar, Senior Lecturer and Hay Festival Fellow, Tiffany Murray.
On behalf of the judging panel, Sampurna Chattarjisaid: “It’s been both a joy and a challenge being on the panel for WBOTY 2020. The quality of the poetry was consistently high, with a huge range of voices and concerns, so whittling the list down was quite a task! I’m very happy with the shortlists that we arrived at, across the categories. The entire process of reading, thinking about and discussing poetry, fiction, non-fiction and children’s books with my co-judges has only deepened my long-term relationship with Wales, its literatures, and my appreciation of its commitment to a robust community of writers and readers, in English as well as in Welsh.”
What happens next?
The winners will be announced on the BBC Radio Wales Arts Show on Friday 31th July from 6.00pm, where representatives from the judging panel, Literature Wales, and literary pundits will join presenter Nicola Heywood Thomas for this highlight in the Welsh literary calendar.
Wales Book of the Year has been run by Literature Wales since 2004, during which time some of Wales’ most renowned writers have been celebrated alongside brilliant new talents.
A total prize fund of £14,000 will be distributed to the winning writers. Each category winner will receive a prize of £1,000 and the main award winners will receive a further £3,000. Each winner will also receive an iconic Wales Book of the Year trophy designed by the installation artist and blacksmith Angharad Pearce Jones.
