Swansea University, of the United Kingdom, has released the longlist of 12 nominees for the 2018 International Dylan Thomas Prize. The list was released on Thursday, February 1, and is comprised of eight novels, two short story collections, and two books of poetry. Carmen Maria Machado, longlisted for her story collection, Her Body and Other Parties, is a featured presenter as this year’s AWP Annual Conference & Bookfair in Tampa, Florida.

Established in 2006, the prize honors the best published literary work in English by authors of 39 years of age or younger. This year’s longlist includes authors from the US, Zambia, Nigeria, India the UK, and Ireland. The prize is held in memory of Swansea native, author Dylan Thomas.

The shortlist for the £30,000 prize will be announced in late March. The winning author will be revealed on May 10^th at Swansea University. This year’s judges include Kurt Heinzelman, Rachel Trezise, Paul McVeigh, and Namita Gokhale.

Here are the publications selected for the longlist:

Ayobámi Adébáyo, Stay With Me (Canongate Books)
Kayo Chingonyi, Kumukanda (Vintage–Chatto & Windus)
Meena Kandasamy, When I Hit You (Atlantic Books)
Lisa McInerney, The Blood Miracles (John Murray)
Carmen Maria Machado, Her Body and Other Parties (Graywolf Press)
Fiona Mozley, Elmet (JM Originals)
Gwendoline Riley, First Love (Granta)
Sally Rooney, Conversations with Friends (Faber & Faber)
Emily Ruskovich, Idaho (Vintage – Chatto & Windus)
Gabriel Tallent, My Absolute Darling  (Riverhead Books)
Eley Williams, Attrib. and Other Stories (Influx Press)
James Womack, On Trust: A Book of Lies (Carcanet Press)

Photo Credit: Swansea University