A new partnership has been announced today (15/6/22) between Bangor University and Literature Wales as the University is to sponsor the Wales Book of the Year Award 2022 Welsh Fiction and English Poetry Categories.
The Welsh@BangorUni Fiction Award will be awarded to the best work of fiction in the Welsh language published in the previous year. The English@BangorUni Poetry Award will be given to the best English language poetry collection.
Bangor University has a long tradition of cultivating literary talent, in both Welsh and English. Many great authors have taught or studied at the university, including five previous winners of the Wales Book of the Year title, Angharad Price, Alys Conran, Ifan Morgan Jones, Jerry Hunter and Gerwyn Williams.
Professor Ruth McElroy, Professor of Creative Industries and Head of the School of Arts, Culture and Language at Bangor University said:
“It is a privilege to sponsor these awards and contribute to highlighting and celebrating the writers of the future, in addition to providing the opportunity to study the treasures of our literatures.”
Commenting on the new sponsorship, Leusa Llewelyn Literature Wales Joint Interim CEO said,
"We are grateful for Bangor University’s support and look forward to collaborating to celebrate Wales’ literary culture."
The Wales Book of the Year award is an annual prize celebrating outstanding literary talent from Wales across many genres in both Welsh and English. There are twelve awards in total, including an overall winner who will claim the title Wales Book of the Year 2022.
The winners of the Welsh@BangorUni Fiction Award and English@BangorUni Poetry Award will be among those competing for this title.
Judging is currently underway for the Wales Book of the Year Award 2022. This year’s English language judging panel includes the poet and writer Krystal Lowe, journalist and broadcaster Andy Welch, author and presenter Matt Brown, and poet and recipient of a 2020 Rising Star Award Taylor Edmonds. Find out more about the judges here.
The shortlisted titles for the Welsh language awards, including the Welsh@BangorUni Fiction Award will be announced on Monday 20 June on Stiwdio, BBC Radio Cymru. The shortlist for the English language awards, including the English@BangorUni Poetry Award, will be announced on The Arts Show, BBC Radio Wales, on Friday 1 July.
As usual, after the shortlist is announced, readers will be able to vote for their favorite title on the shortlist via the independent People’s Choice Awards on the Wales Arts Review and Golwg360 websites.
For more information on the Wales Book of the Year Award including all the key dates for the 2022 awards, click here.
