Evie Wyld wins John Llewellyn Rhys prize

Granta writer Evie Wyld has won the John Llewellyn Rhys prize for her book After the Fire, A Still Small Voice (Jonathan Cape, 2009). Wyld beat other eminent writers to the £5,000 prize at an awards ceremony in London last night, with a novel that charts the stories of three generations of Australian men. Past winners of the prize include Margaret Drabble, William Boyd and Jeanette Winterson.

An extract of Wyld’s novel, ‘Something Close to Heaven’, appeared on the Granta website as part of the New Voices programme, set up to encourage young writers. You can read a Granta interview with her here.

Also shortlisted for the prize was Orange Broadband Prize-winning novelist Chimamanda Adichie, for her short-story collection, The Thing Around Your Neck (Fourth Estate). Adichie contributed to Granta 92, 95, 98 and 99.

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