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
