M. Wynn Thomas Prize, 2014

I was delighted to win the 'Open' category of the 2014 M. Wynn Thomas Prize, for my essay 'In/Human Place: The Poetry of John Barnie', in Zoë Skoulding and Ian Davidson's 2013 volume Placing Poetry (published by Rodopi). The award was made at the annual conference of the Association for Welsh Writing in English at Gregynog.

The M. Wynn Thomas Prize is "offered to celebrate outstanding scholarly work in the field of Welsh writing in English" (to quote the prize's rubric), and is divided into two categories: 'Open' (for experienced scholars) and 'New Scholars' (for postgraduates and recent postdocs). Its name celebrates the leading figure in the field of Welsh writing in English scholarship.

Photos from the award event are by Aidan Byrne, whose fine album of the 2014 AWWE conference as a whole can be found here.

Matthew Jarvis at the award event. Photograph © Aidan Byrne, 2014.

L to R: Richard Davies (Parthian Books), Lisa Sheppard (winner of 'New Scholars' category), M. Wynn Thomas (after whom the prize is named), Matthew Jarvis (winner of 'Open' category). Photograph © Aidan Byrne, 2014.

L to R: Lisa Sheppard (winner of 'New Scholars' category), M. Wynn Thomas (after whom the prize is named), Matthew Jarvis (winner of 'Open' category). Photograph © Aidan Byrne, 2014.