The finalists for the first Dylan Thomas Prize were announced today. The award, worth £60,000 (approximately $114,000), will be given biennially for a book of poetry, fiction, or creative nonfiction written in English by a writer under thirty. The six finalists, chosen from a list of fourteen semifinalists, are Lucy Caldwell for the novel Where They Were Missed (Viking, 2006), Ian Holding for the novel Unfeeling (Scribner, 2005), Nick Laird for the novel Utterly Monkey (Fourth Estate, 2005), James Scudamore for the novel The Amnesia Clinic (Harvill Secker, 2006), Rachel Trezise for the story collection Fresh Apples (Parthian Books, 2005), and Liza Ward for the novel Outside Valentine (Henry Holt, 2004).
The prize, sponsored by the Dylan Thomas Centre and the technology services company EDS, was created to honor the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. The winner will be announced on Thomas’s birthday, October 27.
