Wales Book of the Year 2025 Judges Announcement
Wales Book of the Year is our national literary award. Celebrating outstanding literary talent from Wales across a range of genres in English and Welsh, it offers an invaluable platform to both emerging and established writers. Wales Book of the Year plays an essential part in Literature Wales’ programme of activity and contributes to our strategic aim of celebrating and representing Wales’ writers, heritage, and rich literary culture.
There are four categories in each language – Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, and Children & Young People, with one category winner in each language going on to win the Overall Prize and claiming the title, Wales Book of the Year 2025.
The Judges
On the English-language judging panel this year are: award-winning author and the inaugural Children’s Laureate Wales Eloise Williams; author, journalist, and former lecturer of literature at Aberystwyth University Ned Thomas; award-winning author and journalist Carole Burns; and performer, facilitator, and Senior Platform Manager at Wales Millennium Centre Jason Camilleri.
The members of the Welsh-language judging panel are: award-winning poet and playwright Menna Elfyn; author and winner of the 2023 People’s Choice Award Gwenllian Ellis; the writer and playwriter Dr Miriam Elin Jones who is a lecturer in Welsh at Swansea University; and author and translator Hammad Rind.
“Being a judge for Wales Book of the Year has been an honour. The submissions showcased impressive quality and variety, and it has been joyful to read the works of so many talented writers. Celebrating such a vibrant literary scene, full of unique stories and diverse, powerful voices, is an undeniable privilege, but creating a shortlist will be extremely tough.” – Eloise Williams
The Award Ceremony
This year, we are pleased to announce that the Wales Book of the Year 2025 Awards Ceremony will be held at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff.
“Sherman Theatre are delighted to play host to this year’s award ceremony. As a theatre, located in the very heart of Cardiff, we are incredibly excited to be working with Literature Wales on this year’s Wales Book of the Year 2025. With a thriving literary department here at the Sherman, our theatre feels like a perfect fit for this prestigious awards prize ceremony, celebrating literary talent from across Wales. We look forward to welcoming everyone here on the evening and supporting Literature Wales in making this a unique, memorable, and enjoyable event for all.” – Producing & Programming Manager, Sherman Theatre
Public tickets to the ceremony will be available to purchase on our website following the announcement of the Shortlists in May, with all details available on the Wales Book of the Year project page.
Our Partners
Again this year, we are incredibly lucky and proud of the valuable support of our diverse partners who are helping us to make the awards and celebration possible. We are delighted to announce that Cardiff University’s School of English, Communications and Philosophy are our Principal Sponsors for 2025. Our Category Sponsors for 2025 are: Cronfa Elw Park Jones (Welsh language Children & Young People Award), Hadio and the Rhys Davies Trust (English language Fiction Award). We are also grateful to Penderyn Distillery, our Awards Ceremony Sponsors.
“Wales Book of the Year is a real collective effort, and Literature Wales could not make the awards a success without the amazing contributions of our partners. Our media partners are crucial to ensuring the awards make a splash with readers across Wales and our corporate partners provide innovative collaborations and vital funds to give Wales’ best books and writers the celebration they deserve. We are looking forward to celebrating throughout the year, starting with the announcement of the shortlist in May.” – Claire Furlong, Literature Wales’ Executive Director
We are also pleased to continue to collaborate with Golwg360 and Nation.Cymru who will host a People’s Choice poll on their websites, where the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite Shortlisted book.
Continuing also is our partnership with BBC Cymru Wales. Keep your eyes and ears peeled in May, when we announce our Welsh-language Shortlist on BBC Radio Cymru and our English-language Shortlist on BBC Radio Wales.
Also keep an eye on the Wales Book of the Year project page and on our social media channels to be within the first to hear any news about Wales Book of the Year 2025.