Poetry contenders for Wales book of the year
Three poetry collections have made it on to the long list for Wales book of the year 2011. In Doctor Placebo (Shearsman Books) by Alan Wall, pictured, Doctor Placebo as a medical practitioner broods about his patients; as a writer he broods about his poems. Patrick McGuinness’s Jilted City (Carcanet) finds unforeseen connections between place and displacement. Pascale Petit’s collection, What the Water Gave Me: Poems After Frida Kahlo (Seren), is spoken in the voice of the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo and bear the titles of her paintings.
The awards, worth £10,000 to the winners, are presented to the authors of the best books of the year in English and Welsh. The English language judges are: writer and editor Francesca Rhydderch (chair); fiction writer and Wales Book of the Year 2009 winner Deborah Kay Davies; and author and broadcaster Jon Gower.
The short list of three English language books and three Welsh language books will be revealed simultaneously at two special events held at Galeri Caernarfon and John Lewis' Espresso Bar, Cardiff on Thursday 19 May 2011. The winners of the 2011 Wales Book of the Year will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony on Thursday 7 July 2011, Cineworld, Cardiff.
