Wales Book of the Year 2023

As if to Sing
Paul Henry

The power of song, to sustain the human spirit, resonates through As if to Sing. Full of poems about family, the poet's relationship with his sons, and the Ceredigion coast-line, this collection is rich in the musical lyricism Paul Henry is known for. As if to Sing is an essential addition to this poet's compelling body of work.

The Language of Bees
Rae Howells

With a forensic eye, Howells takes us on a journey through ordinary human lives and the extraordinary natural world we are in danger of losing. The carder bee carries the story of a colony, a species, and, ultimately, the fate of all life on earth. The mermaid weaves an almost beautiful tale of a tragic miscarriage. The magpie writes yearning letters to her lost lover.

A Marginal Sea
Zoe Skoulding

A Marginal Sea is written from the vantage point of Ynys Mon/Anglesey, which is both on the edge of Wales and in a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean - the island is imagined here as a site of archipelagic connection with other places and histories, where the spaces of dream and digital technology are interwoven with the everyday..

And
Isabel Adonis

Isabel Adonis was born in London in 1951, to Welshwoman Catherine Alice Hughes, and renowned Guyanese artist Denis Williams, whose work has been exhibited in the Tate Gallery. Growing up in London, Sudan and Wales, with a cold and distant father and an isolated mother, Adonis explores the nature of identity, culture and desire as shaped by her childhood impressions of her parents.

The Sound of Being Human
Jude Rogers

This book explores why music plays such a deep-rooted role in so many lives. At its heart is Jude's own story: how songs helped her wrestle with the grief of losing her father at age five; concoct her own sense of self as a lonely adolescent; sky-rocket her relationships, in the flushes of early womanhood, propel her own journey into working life, adulthood and parenthood.

Original Sins
Matt Rowland Hill

Recklessly honest, and as funny as it is grave, Original Sins is an extraordinary memoir of faith, family, shame and addiction. But ultimately it is about looking for answers to life's big questions in all the wrong places, how hope can arrive in the most unexpected forms, and how the stories we tell might help us survive.

This is not who we are
Sophie Buchaillard

In 1994 two girls are pen-pals. Then Victoria's letters from Rwanda stop; in Paris Iris can only wonder why. Twenty years later, journalist Iris pitches a story to her editor: haunted, to look for Victoria. As she researches, questions about Rwanda and about her father emerge and she is forced to revisit her childhood memories. Can she find Victoria?

Fannie
Rebecca F. John

A feminist reimagining of the story of Fantine, the much-loved character from Victor Hugo's classic novel Les Miserables, its many dramatisations and the musical. Published on Victor Hugo's birthday, from prize-winning author of the Costa Awards shortlisted title The Haunting of Henry Twist.

Drift
Caryl Lewis

The hauntingly atmospheric English-language début from the acclaimed Welsh author: a love story between a young Welsh woman and a Syrian mapmaker, rich with magic, mystery and the wonder of the sea.

The Mab

Eleven stories from the Welsh classic The Mabinogion, being some of the oldest stories ever written down, retold by contemporary authors, in a beautifully illustrated dual language edition. The Mab is the first ever dual language edition of all the stories from the Mabinogion.

Last Firefox
Laura Catalan

Between bullies at school and changes at home, Charlie Challinor finds life a bit scary. And when he's made guardian of a furry fox cub called Cadno, things get a whole lot scarier. Cadno isn't just any fox: he's a firefox -only one of his kind - and a hunter on his trail.Charlie's going to need to find the bravery he never thought he had, if he's going to save the last firefox…..

When the War Came Home
Lesley Parr

The First World War has ended, but it hasn't gone away.When Natty has to move to a new village, she meets two young soldiers who are still battling the effects of war. Huw can't forget the terrible things he's seen, but Johnny doesn't even remember who he is.

Tosturi
Menna Elfyn

Y Lôn Hir Iawn
Osian Wyn Owen

Anwyddoldeb
Elinor Wyn Rowlands

Sgen i'm Syniad
Gwenllian Ellis

Cylchu Cymru
Gareth Evans-Jones

Cerdded y Caeau
Rhian Parry

Pumed Gainc y Mabinogi
Peredur Glyn

Rhyngom
Sioned Erin Hughes

Pridd
Llyr Titus

Dwi Eisiau Bod yn Ddeinosor
Luned Aaron Huw Aaron

Byd Bach Dy Hun
Sioned Medi Evans

Powell
Manon Steffan Ros