Poet wins Wales Book of the Year

AN AWARDS ceremony saw a “powerful and political” poetry collection named as the Wales Book of the Year for 2018.

Poet Robert Minhinnick took the top prize at the ceremony in Cardiff for his highly acclaimed collection Diary of the Last Man, including £4,000 and a specially commissioned trophy by artist Angharad Pearce Jones.

Described by the author as a “walk across Britain” in the face of Brexit, political uncertainty and climate change, Diary of the Last Man has been hailed as a “celebration of the dwindling Earth” and a caution.

Neath-born Minhinnick, who grew up in Bridgend and studied at the universities of Aberystwyth and Cardiff, previously won the English-language Wales Book of the Year Award in 2006 and 1993.

He was presented with the prize by chairman of the Arts Council of Wales Phil George.

Speaking about Diary of the Last Man, judge Carolyn Hitt said: “This is environmentalism turned into elegy. It’s so powerful, so political.

“These are serious poems for serious times... that will stay with you and make you think about what we’re doing with the planet.”

Minhinnick was also awarded the Roland Mathias Poetry Prize at the awards ceremony, which took place at the Tramshed in Cardiff on Monday night.

His poems have twice won the Forward Prize for best individual poem, and Diary of the Last Man was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize in 2017.

The winner of the overall Welsh-language award and the creative non-fiction award was Blodau Cymru: Byd y Planhigion, by Goronwy Wynne.

The work was described as a comprehensive introduction by a renowned botanist to Welsh plants and flowers, their habitats, ecology, history and characteristics.

The winner of the English-language Fiction Award was Light Switches Are My Kryptonite, by Crystal Jeans. The winner of the English-language creative non-fiction award went to All That is Wales, by M Wynn Thomas, a collection of essays on English-language authors from Wales.

The Wales Arts Review People’s Choice Prize was awarded to Tristan Hughes for his novel Hummingbird.

The Welsh-language fiction award went to Gwales, by Catrin Dafydd, and the winner of the poetry award was Hywel Griffiths with Llif Coch Awst. The winner of the Golwg 360 Barn y Bobl award was Peredur Lynch with his first poetry collection, Caeth a Rhydd.

The Wales Book of the Year Awards is run by Literature Wales, a national company responsible for the development of literature in Wales. Speaking at the ceremony, chief executive of Literature Wales Lleucu Siencyn said: “Wales Book of the Year is one of the highlights of our cultural calendar. It’s vital that we have a national book award which gives a platform to all our literary genres – and treats our two languages equally.

“Wales consistently produces excellent writers and this award is testament to this each year. Congratulations to all of this year’s winners.”