Caleb Azumah Nelson: British-Ghanaian writer wins Dylan Thomas Prize

Ghanaian

British-Ghanaian author Caleb Azumah Nelson has won the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for his novel "Small Worlds," which explores a son-father relationship set between London and Ghana, BBC reports.

The 30-year-old writer from southeast London expressed his astonishment upon receiving the £20,000 award during a ceremony at Swansea's Taliesin Arts Centre on Thursday night.

Launched in 2006, the

Read full articleannual prize is awarded to the best published literary work in the English language by an author aged 39 or under. It is named after Swansea-born poet Dylan Thomas, who passed away at the age of 39 in New York in 1953.

After receiving the award, Nelson shared his excitement, saying, "I felt strangely calm before the show and now I'm just really in a total state of shock." He added, "It's really exciting to be here," and mentioned that his first call would be to his mother.

The shortlist for the 2024 prize included Joshua Jones, whose collection of short stories "Local Fires" draws inspiration from real people and events in his hometown of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire.

Jones expressed relief that the anticipation was over, noting, "There's been anxiety for the last couple of weeks, it's the biggest thing that's happened to me in terms of my writing career and it is just incredible to be part of the experience."