Over the next few weeks, the International Dylan Thomas Prize and Swansea University will be publishing a series of podcast interviews with the shortlisted authors of this year’s prize. Episode four is a conversation with Louisa Hall.
The shortlisted candidate for the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize is interviewed by English Literature Undergraduate students Dan Morgan, Nathan Phillips and Rose Flynn. These students have studied Hall’s shortlisted novel Trinity as part of Swansea University’s exciting new module based on the literary prize.
Louisa Hall grew up in Philadelphia. She is author of the novels Speak and The Carriage House, and her poems have been published in The New Republic, Southwest Review, and other journals. She is a professor at the University of Iowa, and the Western Writer in Residence at Montana State University.
Launched in 2006, the annual Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for young writers, aimed at encouraging raw creative talent worldwide. It celebrates and nurtures international literary excellence.
The £30,000 Prize is awarded to the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.
Dylan Thomas, the quintessential adolescent writer, was ideally suited to serve as an inspiration to young writers everywhere. The freshness and immediacy of his writing were qualities that he never lost. The Prize seeks to ensure that readers today will have the chance to savour the vitality and sparkle of a new generation of young writers.