Wales Book of the Year Longlist 2009

There's a proportionally high amount of poetry this year--exactly half the ten-book list, a consequence of Tiffany Atkinson's role on the judging panel, the quality of poetry submissions this year, or both. The poetry titles are Matthew Francis's Mandeville, Robert Minhinnick's King Driftwood, Sheenagh Pugh's Long-Haul Travellers, Zoe Skoulding's Remains of a Future City, and Samantha Wynne Rhydderch's Not in These Shoes. The other titles are Deborah Kay Davies' Grace, Tamar and Lazlo the Beautiful (a short-story collection), Joe Dunthorne's Submarine (a debut novel), Stephen May's TAG (novel), Dai Smith's Raymond Williams: A Warrior's Tale (biography), and Gee Willliams' Blood etc. (short-story collection). While I haven't read all the poetry titles, Mandeville and Remains of a Future City both deeply impressed me, and neither has received sufficient critical acclaim; I'm delighted they're on the list.