The International Dylan Thomas Book Prize
Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize 2019 Winner:
In Our Mad and Furious City by Guy Gunaratne
We are delighted to confirm Guy Gunaratne’s incendiary In Our Mad and Furious City as the winner of the Swansea University International Dylan Thomas Prize 2019. A kinetic account of a tumultuous summer on a North London housing estate, the novel triumphed over a diverse shortlist that ranged from historical fiction to contemporary polemic.
‘Once in a while, a work of fiction appears that uses voice, style and story, as only works of the imagination can, to let us enter, to make us see, to demand we understand lives and circumstances seldom given that centre-stage position in our contemporary culture and society. This is what Guy Gunaratne’s stunning multi-voice debut sets out to do and bravely achieves for marginal lives, young and old, in the unforgiving whirlpool of London today.’
pROFESSOR DAI SMITH, Chair of Judges
An electrifying snapshot of inner-city frustration sound-tracked by the pulsating beats of grime, In Our Mad and Furious City tracks the progress of three friends as their urban cityscape plays host to riots, radicalisation and casual murder. Adroitly navigating questions of community and belonging, Gunaratne’s debut novel is one of the year’s most acclaimed.
Guy Gunaratne’s debut novel is a firecracker. On a North London council estate three friends backslap and banter their way through the simmering tensions of a long hot summer. As their urban cityscape plays host to riots, radicalisation and casual murder, Selvon, Yusuf and Ardan sense a pent-up chaos and darkening anarchy on the horizon. Will their unspoken but primal friendship survive the oncoming storm? Some-time filmmaker Gunaratne expertly navigates questions of community and belonging , painting an electrifying picture of inner city frustration sound-tracked by the pulsating beats of Grime.
The Shortlist
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