28-year-old Californian author wins prize for her debut novel Seating Arrangements.
Maggie Shipstead has won the Dylan Thomas Prize Photo: Alisha and Brooke Photographers
Maggie Shipstead has won the £30,000 Dylan Thomas Prize. The 28-year-old Californian author won the prize for her debut novel Seating Arrangements, which satarises the pretentions of New England American society.
A student of Zadie Smith at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Maggie Shipstead was deemed to be highly accomplished.
Telegraph columnist, novelist and judge Allison Pearson said: “The winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize before she’s 30, the smart money has to be on Maggie Shipstead winning a Pulitzer before she’s 50”. Pearson went on to compare her work to that of John Updike and Jane Smiley.
Open to any published author in the English language under the age of 30, the Dylan Thomas award celebrates the legacy of the Welsh poet.
The chairman of the judges Peter Florence, the founder of the Hay Festival, said: "This prize celebrates the achievement of young writers, and does so in the name of the gabbiest, most compassionate, anguished and playful spirit of his age."
The other shortlisted authors were Tom Benn for The Doll Princess, Andrea Eames for The White Shadow, Chibundu Onuzo for The Spider King’s Daughter and DW Wilson for Once You Break A Knuckle.
Earlier - Dylan Thomas Prize: the shortlist
22 Oct 2012
Earlier - Dylan Thomas Prize: the shortlist
22 Oct 2012