We’re thrilled to share that Sasha Debevec-McKenney has won the 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize for her debut poetry collection Joy Is My Middle Name.
Chosen in a unanimous decision by this year’s judging panel, Joy Is My Middle Name documents the journey of crawling through your twenties and emerging into your thirties, navigating sex, race, womanhood, addiction, sobriety, consumerism and pop culture. The judging panel praised Sasha for her energizing, exuberant and robust collection, condensing huge ideas into something that is truly a joy to read.
Irenosen Okojie, Chair of Judges, said on behalf of the panel: ‘Incredible. An exuberant, blistering collection full of life, humour and ideas. Debevec-McKenney is a ferociously gifted talent. The book is remarkable in the way it galvanizes the reader with a sense of intimacy that is authentic and a voice that feels like an antidote to our tricky times.’
Sasha Debevec-McKenney was awarded the £20,000 prize, which celebrates exceptional literary talent aged 39 or under, at a ceremony held in Swansea University’s Great Hall, marking International Dylan Thomas Day.
Reflecting on her win, Sasha Debevec-McKenney said: ‘I really love writing poems, it makes life worth living. Every emotion I’ve ever had, there’s a poem for it. To get this prize feels completely unbelievable. I’m really honoured.’
The prize is named after the Swansea-born writer Dylan Thomas and celebrates his 39 years of creativity and productivity. The prize invokes Thomas’ memory to support the writers of today, nurture the talents of tomorrow, and celebrate international literary excellence in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama.
The other titles shortlisted for the 2026 Prize were:
– To Rest Our Minds and Bodies by Harriet Armstrong (Les Fugitives)
– We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown (Chatto & Windus)
– Under the Blue by Suzannah V. Evans (Bloomsbury Poetry)
– Open, Heaven by Seán Hewitt (Jonathan Cape)
– Borderline Fiction by Derek Owusu (Canongate)
The 2026 Prize was judged by Irenosen Okojie, the award-winning Nigerian British author of Curandera, Butterfly Fish, Speak Gigantular and Nudibranch, along with: Joe Dunthorne, poet and novelist; Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, poet, pacifist and fabulist; Prajwal Parajuly, author of The Gurkha’s Daughter: Stories and Land Where I Flee, a novel; and Eley Williams, author of Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good.
Previous winners of the prize include Yasmin Zaher, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Arinze Ifeakandu, Patricia Lockwood, Max Porter, Raven Leilani, Bryan Washington, Maggie Shipstead, Guy Gunaratne and Kayo Chingonyi.