American poet Elyse Fenton has been awarded this year’s £30,000 ($48,000) University of Wales Dylan Thomas Prize for Clamor, her striking collection of 21st century war poetry.
Clamor, which was written in part while Fenton’s husband was deployed as a medic in Baghdad, is the first book of poetry ever to have won the title. She is the third person to have picked up the award, following Australian Nam Le with The Boat in 2008 and Welsh Rachel Trezise with Fresh Apples in 2006.
Chair of Judges for the Prize, Peter Florence, made the announcement at an exclusive awards dinner held in Dylan Thomas’ hometown of Swansea and hosted by Welsh comedian and broadcaster, Chris Corcoran. The award, which is sponsored by the University of Wales, is designed to encourage creative talent in writers under the age of 30 and is open to any work, from any genre, which has been published in the English language.
Commenting on the announcement, Peter Florence said: “It’s a great winner. It’s an astonishing, fully accomplished book of huge ambition and spectacular delivery. For this Prize of all prizes it’s great to have a poet.”
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