Bookseller scoops top literary prize
A debut novelist has fought off competition from established writers to scoop the John Llewellyn Rhys book prize
A debut novelist who helps run a small independent bookshop in Peckham has fought off stiff competition from some of the world's best writers to scoop a prestigious literary award.
Evie Wyld, 29, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for her novel After The Fire, A Still Small Voice - a story about a man trying to distance himself from his violent past and build a new life in a small coastal community in eastern Australia.
Past winners of the prize, which was founded in honour of the eponymous John Llewellyn Rhys who was killed in the Second World War, include Andrew Motion, VS Naipaul, Margaret Drabble and David Hare.
Louise Doughty, who chaired the judging panel, said the winning novel was "awash with fine images that linger in the mind".
She said: "She writes brilliantly (and is) able to paint a picture or create a convincing encounter with a few deft, evocative strokes, in a prose style worthy of our very best writers.
"There is nothing 'first novelish' about this first novel. It's a fantastically mature book, never showy, a slow burn that drags the reader in."
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Wyld, whose family is originally from Australia, received a £5,000 cheque for her work at a ceremony in central London.
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