Alys Conran is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

writer. Her debut novel ''Pigeon'' won the

Wales Book of the Year The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently ad ...

in 2017.

Early life

Alys Conran was born in north-west Wales, and is the daughter of the poet and translator

Tony Conran Tony Conran (7 April 1931 – 14 January 2013) was an Anglo-Wales, Welsh poet and Translation, translator of Welsh language, Welsh poetry. His own poetry was mostly written in English and Modernist in style but was very much influenced by Wel ...

. She studied literature in Edinburgh before completing an MA in creative writing at Manchester.

Career

Conran's first novel ''Pigeon'' was published by

Parthian Books Parthian Books is an independent publisher based in Cardigan, Wales. It was founded in 1993 by Lewis Davies and Gillian Griffiths. An editorially-led publishing house, Parthian publishes a range of contemporary fiction, poetry, non-fiction and d ...

in 2016. A Welsh language adaptation by Siân Northey was published at the same time as the English original, making it the first fiction novel to be simultaneously published in English and Welsh. At the 2017 Wales Book of the Year Awards, the English-language version of ''Pigeon'' won the overall prize for Wales Book of the Year, as well as the

Wales Arts Review ''Wales Arts Review'' is a critical writing hub for Wales. Originally published fortnightly, the site has published daily since 2016. It offers a critique, by Welsh and Wales-based writers, of various social and cultural aspects of Wales. Histor ...

People's Choice Award and the Rhys Davies Trust Fiction Award. It was also shortlisted for the

Dylan Thomas Prize The Dylan Thomas Prize is a leading prize for young writers presented annually. The prize, named in honour of the Welsh writer and poet Dylan Thomas, brings international prestige and a remuneration of £30,000 (~$46,000). It is open to published w ...

and longlisted for the Author's Choice First Novel Award. In 2018, Conran's second novel ''Dignity'' was picked up by

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

, and published in April 2019. ''Dignity'' was shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year award in 2020.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Pigeon'' (2016) * ''Dignity'' (2019)

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Welsh women writers 21st-century Welsh writers Welsh novelists {{Wales-poet-stub