Wales Book of the Year: An Interview with our Sponsor

We are delighted that Wales Book of the Year’s Principal Sponsor is, for the second year, Cardiff University School of English, Communications and Philosophy (ENCAP), and Ysgol y Gymraeg. Their sponsorship provides vital support, strengthening the impact of the prize by raising the profile of the shortlisted and winning writers, and helping us to introduce some of Wales’s fantastic writers to students across their undergraduate and postgraduate courses.  We caught up with Professor Mark Llewellyn, Head of Department for ENCAP to find out more about his interest in Wales Book of the Year.

What was it about Wales Book of the Year that attracted ENCAP and Ysgol y Gymraeg to get involved?

“The connections between ENCAP and Ysgol Y Gymraeg with Literature Wales extend over many years: creative writers and academics from both schools have been shortlisted and awarded prizes or have served as judges across the prizes. In the case of ENCAP, one of my predecessors as Head of School is a former Chair of Literature Wales, so there’s always been a good connection at individual levels. What’s been so great about scaling this up to a more formal, strategic partnership through the sponsorship of the Wales Book of the Year in 2024 and 2025, is that we’re able to think more creatively and imaginatively about what that partnership working means beyond the prizes. For me personally, that cuts across teaching, research and engagement and offers a real opportunity for us to collaborate at organisational level.”

How do your students benefit from the University’s support of WBOTY?

“Students in Creative Writing have benefitted from masterclass sessions, engagement with shortlisted and awarded authors, and gleaned some real insights into the Welsh writing and publishing landscape. It’s also been great for the students to get a sense of Literature Wales as an organisation and the kinds of careers available to them post-graduation. In ENCAP it’s been wonderful to have some thinking time with colleagues in Literature Wales in developing a new Year 3 undergraduate module on literary prizes (‘And the winner is …’): students on the module will serve as prize juries and getting insight from Literature Wales staff into how a prize is run will offer amazing opportunities to think about the practicalities of literary judgement in the public sphere, or criticism beyond the academy.”

What other opportunities do your students have to learn about literature from Wales?

“In the School of Welsh and ENCAP, students are offered core and optional content on the traditions of literary Wales as well as more contemporary dynamics of the Welsh literary scene from undergraduate to PhD level study. This ranges across modules on Welsh writing in English through to the notion of Welsh Apocalyptic literature. There is such a vibrant field of contemporary writers connected to Wales or engaging with Welsh concerns in the global contexts of the present moment, that Literature Wales and the awards can really help readers and students navigate to those highlights or particularly compelling works.”

How do you see the relationship with Literature Wales evolving?

“Both Welsh and ENCAP are likely to become part of a new School at Cardiff in 2026 – the School of Global Humanities – and partnerships with key agencies and stakeholders are going to be crucial in delivering differently for our students. Engagement with Wales as a place and its place in the world is going to be a really distinctive strand in what we do as a group of disciplines, and I think organisations like Literature Wales – representing, reflecting, advocating for Welsh talent, themes and interests – can really help us think differently about how are university models can learn new approaches to similar challenges.”

Are there any particular highlights on this year’s shortlist for you?

“Well, as I was planning the texts for my module ‘And the winner is …’ for next semester, I happened to have a conversation with Claire, Executive Director at Literature Wales a few months ago before any shortlist was announced. As the texts on the module have to be novella length, she pointed me in the direction of Carys Davies’s Clear and I’m so pleased she did. I’ve recommended it to several people, and I was thrilled to see this one shortlisted – it’s already on the module reading list, so there will be 60+ students in autumn this year deciding whether it should win on the module.”

Which of the shortlisted books do you want to see crowned Wales Book of the Year 2025? Remember to cast your vote for your favourite English language book on Nation.Cymru and for your favourite Welsh language book on Golwg360.

The winners of the People’s Choice and Barn y Bobl prizes will be announced alongside the judges’ choices at our Award Ceremony on Thursday 17 July at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff. If you would like to join us for these celebrations, tickets are available from our website shop.