The international longlist for one of the world’s largest literary prizes for young writers – the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize – was announced on 21st January, and we are delighted that Caoilinn Hughes (represented on behalf of The Clegg Agency) is among the longlisted writers. The list comprises nine novels, two poetry collections and one short story collection, and at a time when travel has been restricted and contact with loved ones limited, these extraordinary titles – eight of which are by female writers – transport the reader from Seoul to Hong Kong, Syria to Kilburn, Montana to Dublin, in a powerful exploration of homeland, identity, and relationships. Worth £20,000, the Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the UK’s most prestigious literary prizes as well as one of the world’s largest literary prizes for young writers. Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language written by an author aged 39 or under, the prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama.
The Wild Laughter by Caoilinn Hughes (Oneworld)
It's 2008, and the Celtic Tiger has left devastation in its wake. Brothers Hart and Cormac Black are waking up to a very different Ireland - one that widens the chasm between them and brings their beloved father to his knees. Facing a devastating choice that risks their livelihood, if not their lives, their biggest danger comes when there is nothing to lose. A sharp snapshot of a family and a nation suddenly unmoored, this epic-in-miniature explores cowardice and sacrifice, faith rewarded and abandoned, the stories we tell ourselves and the ones we resist. Hilarious, poignant and utterly fresh, The Wild Laughter cements Caoilinn Hughes' position as one of Ireland's most audacious, nuanced and insightful young writers.
Caoilinn Hughes, The Wild Laughter (Oneworld)
Caoilinn Hughes is an Irish writer. Her first novel Orchid & the Wasp (Oneworld 2018) won the Collyer Bristow Prize 2019 and was shortlisted for the Hearst Big Book Awards, the Butler Literary Award and was longlisted for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award and the International DUBLIN Literary Award. Her poetry collection, Gathering Evidence (Carcanet 2014) won the Irish Times Strong/Shine Award. Her short fiction won The Moth Short Story Prize 2018, an O.Henry Prize in 2019 and the Irish Book Awards' Story of the Year 2020. Her second novel, The Wild Laughter (2020) was shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards' Novel of the Year, the RTÉ Radio 1 Listener's Choice Award 2020. She is the 2021 Writer Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.
Twitter: @caoilinnhughes | Instagram: caoilinn_hughes