Bookseller’s first novel wins the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize 2009

A bookseller from Peckham has won the prestigious John Llewellyn Rhys prize with her debut novel. The award for writers aged 35 and under from the UK and the Commonwealth is one of the oldest literary prizes in the UK, and has launched the careers of countless authors including V.S Naipaul, Margaret Drabble, David Hare and Andrew Motion.

29-year-old Evie Wyld (pic right) saw off competition from an exceptional shortlist which included the Booker winner Aravind Adiga and Orange Prize winner Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie with her book After the Fire, a Still Small Voice.

The novel, which was published to rave reviews in August 2009, is set in eastern Australia and tells a story of fathers and sons, their wars and the things that they will never know about each other. Following the collapse of his marriage, Frank retreats to a small costal community in an attempt to build a new life for himself, away from the horrors of his violent past. Frank’s story is set against the struggles of his own father, Leon, who forty years earlier, is forced to depart from life working in his family’s suburban cake shop to face horrors of his own in the war in Vietnam.

Wyld, who was named one of Granta’s New Voices of 2008, will be revealed as the winner and will receive her cheque for £5,000 at a ceremony at the Century Club in Piccadilly tonight (Monday 30 November).

Louise Doughty, chair of Judges said:

'Evie Wyld's first novel is a remarkable book. A sometimes poignant, sometimes comic story of a father and son who have so much in common but never quite connect, it is awash with fine images that linger in the mind. Wyld’s choice of subject matter is both brave and wide-ranging, from the wars in Korea and Vietnam to the back country of Eastern Australia, Wyld captures the inflections of male speech and male bonding in a way that feels both acute and realistic. Most importantly, she writes brilliantly, able to paint a picture or create a convincing encounter with a few deft, evocative strokes, in a prose style worthy of our very best writers. There is nothing 'first novelish' about this first novel. It's a fantastically mature book, never showy, a slow burn that drags the reader in.’

This year’s shortlist was a truly international list with writers from Nigeria, India, Canada Australia and the UK vying for the award, which is the second oldest literary award in the UK. The 2009 shortlist comprised two works of non-fiction, a debut poetry collection, a collection of short stories and two novels.

The judges were Louise Doughty, Stephen Francis and Joanna Kavenna.

The 2009 shortlist was:

Between the Assassinations by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic Books)
The Striped World by Emma Jones (Faber and Faber)
Six Months in Sudan by James Maskalyk (Canongate)
The Thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Fourth Estate)
Waste by Tristram Stuart (Allen Lane)
After the Fire, a Still Small Voice by Evie Wyld (Jonathan Cape)

Footnote:
Here is an interview with the winning author that appeared in Granta 108