Wales Book of the Year: Journey through the climate crisis wins award
Image source, Tom Bullough
A book examining the effects of climate change has been named Welsh Book of the Year.
Tom Bullough’s Sarn Helen takes the reader on a walk along the old Roman road from Neath in South Wales to Caerhun in County Conwy, shedding light on the past, present and future of Wales along the way.
Climate and ecology experts will be involved in the journey and explain the potential and immediate impacts of the climate emergency on Wales and the world.
The Welsh award went to Mari George for her fictional work “Sut i Ddofi Corryn”, which translates as “How to Tame a Spider”.
Speaking on BBC Open Book in 2023, Mr Bullough said the lockdown had left him feeling “desperate” because he wanted a different landscape.
During his walk, he said, he “passed through communities that suffered unprecedented flooding in the spring and are still struggling to recover, just as they are struggling to recover from Covid-19.”
At the same time, he wandered through a “magnificent landscape” that was “devoid of life and biodiversity” and was struck by the contrast with the “remnants of the age of the saints in which the roots of Wales lie”.
In addition to the Wales Book of the Year award, it was also named Welsh Book of the Year 2023 by Waterstones.
Image source, Tom Bullough/Jackie Morris/Granta Books
At the awards ceremony, juror Dylan Moore said: “(Tom) magically portrays this country as a microcosm of planet Earth, in precise locations and across all historical time.
“This unique book addresses the climate emergency with blunt force, and Tom uses stark language to explain the gravity of the situation we all face.”
The first prize for the Welsh language went to Mari George from Bridgend for her book about a woman searching for a cancer cure for her husband.
Image source, Mary George
The Wales Book of the Year Award is given in four Welsh and English categories: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Children’s and Young Adult Literature.
Each category winner takes home a prize of £1,000.
The winner of a category in each language receives the overall prize, an additional £3,000 and the title of Wales Book of the Year.
Although the Book of the Year has existed in some form since the 1960s, it has been published by the literary development charity Literature Wales since 2004.
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