Author of the Month
Each month on the Libraries Wales website, we will focus on an inspiring author based in or writing about Wales. You’ll have an introduction to their latest book, a short biography of the author, what inspires them to write, and any advice they have for young writers, all available in exclusive interviews which you can read here.
Since introducing this feature, some of our focused authors to date have been Jon Blake, Dai Smith, Rob Gittins, and our very own Children’s Laureate Wales, Eloise Williams.
Are you a teacher or librarian? A special flyer will be available to download and print every month based on each of our showcased authors that can be used for educational purposes.
We will focus on two authors every month writing in English and Welsh. Link to the Welsh-language Author of the Month available here.
July 1, 2024
Özgür Uyanık
From Özgür Uyanık, novelist and film director, comes a debut collection of audacious, darkly wry and compassionate short stories. Men Alone is a meditative vision from a unique voice that explores the many – often confounding – permutations of modern masculinity. Driven by universal themes of desire, mortality, loss and yearning, each story […]
Read moreJune 7, 2024
Sophie Zalayet
Sophie Zalayet was born in Wales and grew up in the industrial town of Port Talbot. She had a vivid imagination and loved writing short stories, drawing and painting. She pursued a career in design attending Foundation Art studies at Swansea Institute and completed her education in 2001 at the University of Gloucestershire where […]
Read moreMay 1, 2024
Karin Celestine
Have you ever been taken by surprise by an idea? A moment of wonder, a recognition of beauty, a spark of inspiration; we’ve all enjoyed the magic that comes with the unexpected. The Joy Bringers by Karin Celestine is a book of these hidden delights. Artist and author Karin Celestine lives in […]
Read moreApril 1, 2024
Meredith Miller
Meredith Miller was born and raised on Long Island, New York. Before moving to the UK in 1997, she lived in Oregon and New Orleans. She has published two previous novels, Little Wrecks (2017) and How We Learned to Lie (2018). She lives in mid Wales in a tiny house with a chapel attached. […]
Read moreMarch 4, 2024
Georgia Carys Williams
Georgia Carys Williams lives in Swansea. Her short story collection Second-hand Rain was shortlisted for the Sabotage Short Story Award and longlisted for the Edge Hill Prize and the Frank O’Connor International Prize. She has a doctorate in creative writing from Swansea University. Unspeakable Beauty is her debut novel. This beautiful, poetic debut […]
Read moreFebruary 1, 2024
Sophie Buchaillard
Sophie Buchaillard writes contemporary fiction that reflects on the anxieties of our age, using movement and migration to connect history with our reality. Her short stories and essays have appeared in a wide array of literary magazines and newspapers. She also writes about the environment under the handle #plasticfree. Her first novel, This is […]
Read moreJanuary 1, 2024
Bruce Cardwell
Bruce Cardwell is a folk musician and photographer from Northern Ireland, long resident in West Wales. He is committed to recording the communities and livelihoods of his adopted homeland. He is the author of Hoofpicks: The Horse in Wales, Noteworthy: Acoustic Music in Wales, and The Harp in Wales. Published this year, A Hardy […]
Read moreDecember 1, 2023
Carly Holmes
Carly Holmes lives and writes in a small village on the banks of the river Teifi in west Wales. Her debut novel, The Scrapbook, was shortlisted for the International Rubery Book Award, and her Literary Strange debut short story collection, Figurehead, was published by Tartarus Press in limited-edition hardback, to critical acclaim. Her […]
Read moreNovember 2, 2023
Jo Mazelis
Novelist, poet, photographer, essayist and short story writer, Jo Mazelis grew up in Swansea, later living in Aberystwyth and then London for over 14 years before returning to her hometown. Her novel Significance was awarded the Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize 2015. Her first collection of short stories Diving Girls was shortlisted for both Wales […]
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