Wales Book of the Year


The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently administered by Literature Wales, and supported by the Arts Council of Wales, Welsh Government and the Welsh Books Council.

Competition format

The longlist of ten works in each language is published in April and the shortlist of three works in each language at the Hay Festival in May. The winners are announced in June or July. Since 2006, the winners have each received £10,000. From 2007, four runners-up also each receive £1000. In 2009, Media Wales sponsored a voted "People's Choice" award for the English-language works.
The format was again changed in 2012, expanding the entries to three categories, fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry; with English and Welsh language winners in each field. In 2019, a sub-category for books for children and young people was added, to be awarded from the 2020 award onwards. An overall winner in each language is still chosen.
Regarding eligibility, the competition specifically excludes self-published authors. The Welsh national book award therefore differs from Ireland's national book award, since the latter does not preclude self-published titles from being nominated.

Winners

English language

Creative Non-fiction
Roland Mathias Poetry Award

Welsh language

Fiction
Creative non-fiction
Roland Mathias Poetry Award