#DecemberDialogues RSS

With only two weeks of December left, it’s almost time to make our New Year’s Resolutions and to say goodbye to 2024. We wanted to reflect on what we’ve been involved with this past year; the books we’ve published, the events we’ve attended and the prizes won by such fantastic writers. There’s been a lot to celebrate: Awards and Nominations Bryony Rheam’s short story collection Whatever Happened to Rick Astley? was nominated for the Outstanding Fiction Book award for Zimbabwe’s National Arts Merit Awards. Joshua Jones’ Local Fires was shortlisted for the 2024 Polari First Book Prize and the Dylan Thomas...

The wait is over for this brand-new collection of emotive and tender short stories from the winners of the 2024 Rhys Davies Short Story Award. Selected by Rebecca F. John and edited by Elaine Canning, A Dictionary of Light includes twelve incredibly touching stories by twelve fantastic writers and a beautiful front cover photo taken by Joshua Jones. Elaine and Rebecca interviewed the winners at Waterstones Swansea for the release of this year’s anthology, discussing inspirations for their writing and what their winning stories mean to them. For Tanya Pengelly, her story was a eulogy in memory of her father....

After a short break we are returning with another #authorinsight from 2021 Rhys Davies Short Story Award author, Craig Hawes, who was shortlisted for his story, 'Coat of Arms'. Born and raised in Briton Ferry, Craig spent many years working in London and Dubai as a journalist before returning to his native South Wales. Now a copywriter, he has previously been shortlisted for the Bristol Short Story prize in 2009 and was a runner-up in the Rhys Davies Prize 2010. His short story collection The Witch Doctor of Umm Suqeim was published by Parthian in 2013. His stories and plays...

For our daily #authorinsight, we were joined by Brennig Davies who discussed his short story, ‘Dogs in a Storm’, shortlisted for the 2021 Rhys Davies Short Story Award!  Brennig is a writer from the Vale of Glamorgan, who recently completed a BA in English at Mansfield College. In the past his work has been published in magazines and anthologies, and he has previously won the inaugural BBC Young Writers Award (2015), as well as the Crown at the Urdd National Eisteddfod (2019). In Brennig’s shortlisted entry, Dogs in a Storm, a mother is desperately hoping for change, verging on transformation as she realises...

Up next for our Rhys Davies Short Story Award #authorinsights, we present an interview with author Jupiter Jones, who was shortlisted for her short story, ‘Bird’. Jupiter grew up on the north-west coasts of Cumberland and Lancashire, the former a wild and secretive landscape, whilst the latter trashy and jaded. She loved both of these locations; they inspire and haunt her writing. Having completed a PhD in Spectatorial Embarrassment at Goldsmiths, Jupiter now lives in Wales writing short stories and flash fiction which has led her to win the Colm Tóibín International Prize. In Jupiter’s shortlisted entry, ‘Bird’, two strangers meet within the...