Ifeakandu wins Dylan Thomas Prize

In the UK, Nigerian author Arinze Ifeakandu has been awarded the £20,000 (A$37,350) Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize for his debut God’s Children Are Little Broken Things (W&N).

Judges praised the book as ‘a stunning short fiction collection, whose nine stories simmer with loneliness and love, and depict what it means to be gay in contemporary Nigeria’.

‘Arinze Ifeakandu’s debut shines with maturity, the writing bold, refreshing and exacting but never afraid to linger and to allow characters and situations to develop and change, so that the longer stories are almost novels in themselves,’ said chair of judges Di Speirs. ‘A kaleidoscopic reflection of queer life and love in Nigeria, the constraints, the dangers and the humanity, this is a collection that we wanted to press into many readers’ hands around the world and which left us excited to know what Arinze Ifeakandu will write next.’

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.

As previously reported by Books+Publishing, Tasmanian writer Robbie Arnott was shortlisted for the award for his third novel, Limberlost. American writer Patricia Lockwood won the 2022 Dylan Thomas prize for her debut novel No One is Talking About This (Bloomsbury).

Category: International news