The shortlist has been selected for the £20,000 (about $25,600) Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, which honors "exceptional literary talent" by people under 39 around the world who write fiction in all its forms, including poetry, novels, short stories, and drama. The winner will be announced at a ceremony held in Swansea on May 16, following International Dylan Thomas Day on May 14. The shortlist:
A Spell of Good Things by Ayòbámi Adébáyò (novel, Nigeria)
Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson (novel, U.K./Ghana)
The Glutton by A.K. Blakemore (novel, England, U.K.)
Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan (poetry collection, Hong Kong)
Local Fires by Joshua Jones (short story collection, Wales, U.K.)
Biography of X by Catherine Lacey (novel, U.S.)
---
Finalists have been selected for the $100,000 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature, which honors "an emerging writer who demonstrates the potential for continuing contribution to the world of Jewish literature" and is given in association with the National Library of Israel. The awards are made in fiction and nonfiction in alternating years. This year's focus is nonfiction, and the finalists are:
Jeremy Eichler for Time's Echo: The Second World War, the Holocaust, and the Music of Remembrance (Knopf)
Michael Frank for One Hundred Saturdays: Stella Levi and the Search for the Lost World (Avid Reader Press/S&S)
Oren Kessler for Palestine 1936: The Great Revolt and the Roots of the Middle East Conflict (Rowman & Littlefield)
Natalie Livingstone for The Women of Rothschild: The Untold Story of the World's Most Famous Dynasty (St. Martin's Press)
The winner will be announced in April.