WORLD’S LARGEST PRIZE FOR YOUNG WRITERS: SWANSEA UNIVERSITY DYLAN THOMAS PRIZE 2026 ANNOUNCES SHORTLIST
HARRIET ARMSTRONG | COLWILL BROWN | SASHA DEBEVEC-MCKENNEY
SUZANNAH V. EVANS | SEÁN HEWITT | DEREK OWUSU
www.swansea.ac.uk/dylan-
Swansea, Thursday 19 March 2026: The shortlist for the world’s largest and most prestigious literary prize for young writers – the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize – is announced today featuring six extraordinary, emerging voices, whose writing explores love and beauty, society and gender – with a distinct focus on coming of age stories.
Comprising four novels and two poetry collections, the shortlist is:
- To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong (Les Fugitives) – novel (UK)
- We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown (Chatto & Windus, Vintage) – novel (UK)
- Joy is My Middle Name by Sasha Debevec-McKenney (Fitzcarraldo Editions) – poetry (US)
- Under the Blue by Suzannah V. Evans (Bloomsbury Poetry) – poetry (UK)
- Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt (Jonathan Cape, Vintage) – novel (UK)
- Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu (Canongate) – novel (UK)
Irenosen Okojie MBE, Chair of Judges, said: “This is a marvellous, galvanising shortlist. We're thrilled by the scope, breadth and depth of these works across forms. These books have profound things to say about the ways we live, what it means to be human and overall are propulsive reads that imbue the writing space with new energies.”
The two poetry collections on the shortlist are both by debut writers: American poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney, who draws on sex, race, addiction, and pop culture in Joy is My Middle Name (Fitzcarraldo Editions); and Bristol-based Suzannah V. Evans, with her poetry collection Under the Blue (Bloomsbury Poetry), a deeply candid exploration of both the shimmering beauty of life and the realities of care.
Two out of the six shortlisted authors have previously been nominated for the award. British-Irish author Seán Hewitt, nominated in 2025, has been chosen again for his heart-breaking novel Open, Heaven (Jonathan Cape), an exhilarating story of hidden desire on the cusp of adulthood. Meanwhile, 2023 prize nominee Derek Owusu is shortlisted for his contemporary tale Borderline Fiction (Canongate), a close-up, sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes funny examination of what it means to be a young black man navigating today's world.
Coming of age is a big theme throughout all four shortlisted novels: Harriet Armstrong, the youngest shortlisted author at just 25, is in the running with To Rest Our Minds and Bodies (Les Fugitives), her first novel which confronts thorny gender relations, consent, and unravelling mental health within Gen Z. Finally, Colwill Brown is also recognised for her debut novel, We Pretty Pieces of Flesh (Chatto & Windus), which takes you by the hand and leads you through Doncaster’s schoolyards, alleyways and nightclubs in the early noughties.
The shortlisted titles were selected by a judging panel chaired by Irenosen Okojie MBE, award-winning Nigerian British author of Curandera, Butterfly Fish, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch, and former Women’s Prize for Fiction judge, who is joined by: Joe Dunthorne, award-winningSwansea-born poet and novelist; Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, poet, pacifist and fabulist; Prajwal Parajuly, multi-award nominated author of The Gurkha’s Daughter and Land Where I Flee; Eley Williams, acclaimed author and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Joe Dunthorne on To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong:
“An electrifying experience, a brilliantly sustained journey into love and obsession – told with a voice that is fresh, funny and completely its own.”
Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe on We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown:
“A full-throated, intimate look at girlhood, growing up, what it means and what it takes to feel like you belong. An anthem to first friendships, to the places and people that make us and change us, to the things we can and cannot say, to the selves that we become.”
Irenosen Okojie on Joy is My Middle Name by Sasha Debevec-McKenney:
"Glorious. This is a collection teeming with multitudes. Unstoppable, hilarious and incandescent."
Eley Williams on Under the Blue by Suzannah V. Evans:
“Alert to the intimacies of caring and keening, of all-too-easy frictions and fraught hard-won joys, Evans’ collection is an intricate and rewarding work of contemporary literature.”
Prajwal Parajuly on Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt:
“A tender exploration of love and desire—heart-rending and deeply lyrical.”
Irenosen Okojie on Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu:
“A forensic meditation on complex Black British male identity. Full of heart and tenderness."
The British Library will host a shortlist celebratory event on Wednesday 13 May with the winner announced during a ceremony in Swansea onThursday 14 May, marking International Dylan Thomas Day.
Worth £20,000, this global accolade recognises exceptional literary talent aged 39 or under, celebrating the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama. The prize is named after the Swansea-born writer Dylan Thomas and celebrates his 39 years of creativity and productivity. The prize invokes his memory to support the writers of today, nurture the talents of tomorrow, and celebrate international literary excellence.
Last year’s prize was awarded to Palestinian writer Yasmin Zaher for her novel The Coin, and previous winners include Caleb Azumah Nelson, Arinze Ifeakandu, Patricia Lockwood, Max Porter, Raven Leilani, Bryan Washington, Fiona McFarlane, and Kayo Chingonyi.
