Folding Rock is delighted to share that its partner, the Dylan Thomas Prize – arguably the world’s most prestigious literary award for young writers – has named its six-strong shortlist today for its 2025 iteration (20 March).

Comprising four novels, a short story collection and poetry collection, the shortlist includes three debuts and explores identity, gender, grief, familial trauma, and sexuality. The shortlist in its entirety is:

• Rapture’s Road by Seán Hewitt (Jonathan Cape)
• Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon (Fig Tree)
• The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden (Viking)
• I Will Crash by Rebecca Watson (Faber & Faber)
• Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good by Eley Williams (4th Estate)
• The Coin by Yasmin Zaher (Footnote Press)

Namita Gokhale, 2025’s Chair of Judges and acclaimed Indian writer, said: ‘The range and depth of this year’s vibrant longlist made for compelling reading. It was truly a challenge for the jury to hone in on the final shortlist. The Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize celebrates immensely talented writers, all below the age of forty, writing in a range of literary forms. The 2025 shortlist is varied and diverse: from ancient Sicily to tremulous nightwoods, it encompasses the historical, the contemporary, and the timeless through novels, short stories and poetry, showcasing startlingly fresh writing, style and energy.’

Judging this years prize alongside Gokhale were: Professor Daniel Williams, Director of the Richard Burton Centre for the Study of Wales and Co-Director of the Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales at Swansea University; award-winning novelist and writer Jan Carson; Costa Book Award winner and previous Dylan Thomas Prize shortlistee Mary Jean Chan; and esteemed literary critic Max Liu.

The British Library will host a shortlist celebratory event on International Dylan Thomas Day on Wednesday 14 May, with the winner announced during a ceremony in Swansea on Thursday 15 May.

The longlist for this year featured names such as Jo Hamya and Andrew McMillian, as well as Swansea-born writer Emma Glass, whose novel Mrs Jekyll (Cheerio Publishing) was also shortlisted for the 2025 Gordon Burn Prize.

Last year’s Dylan Thomas Prize, which was won by Caleb Azumah Nelson for his novel Small Worlds (Viking), featured Issue 001 contributor Joshua Jones on its shortlist, for his short-story collection, Local Fires (Parthian Books).