Azumah Nelson wins Dylan Thomas Prize

In the UK, British-Ghanaian author Caleb Azumah Nelson has won this year’s Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for his second novel, Small Worlds (Viking), reports the Guardian.

Established in 2006, the international Dylan Thomas Prize is awarded to the best literary work in the English language written by an author under 40, and is administered by Swansea University.

Small Worlds is ‘set between south-east London and Ghana across three summers and follows Stephen as he navigates love and family life’, said the Guardian.

Judges described the novel as ‘symphonic’ and ‘viscerally moving’. ‘There is a musicality to Caleb Azumah Nelson’s writing, in a book equally designed to be read quietly and listened aloud,’ said judge Namita Gokhale. ‘Images and ideas recur to beautiful effect, lending the symphonic nature of Small Worlds an anthemic quality, where the reader feels swept away by deeply realised characters as they traverse between Ghana and south London, trying to find some semblance of a home.’

Azumah Nelson was chosen as the winner from a shortlist announced in March. Nigerian author Arinze Ifeakandu won the prize last year for his debut, God’s Children Are Little Broken Things (W&N).

Category: International news