The Joy of the Tir Na n-Og 2018 English Language Book Awards!

Paul Jeorrett dips into a wealth of Welsh books for children and young adults

Every year since 1976, the Welsh Books Council has organised the Tir Na n-Og Awards for children’s and young adults’ fiction in English and in Welsh. The Welsh- and English-language shortlists represent the best books judged to reflect an authentic Welsh background. I suspect that many of you reading this may not have heard of these awards, or at least only have a vague awareness of them.

The first thing you might be wondering is where the name ‘Tir Na n-Og’ comes from. The eagle-eyed among you will notice that this isn’t Welsh, but Irish, and means ‘Land of Eternal Youth’. It relates to the Irish legend of Oisin, son of the famous Finn McCool, who falls in love with Niamh, daughter of the king of Tir Na n-Og. Niamh and Oisin go to the ‘Land of Eternal Youth’ together, where there is no pain or sadness, and you may think that they would live happily ever after. Sadly, Oisin becomes homesick and begs to return to Ireland, which he does; however, 300 years have passed and, as soon as he touches Irish soil, he immediately ages 300 years and unsurprisingly dies of old age! If you want to read more, you can find details at Irish Central.

If you look at some of the winners of the Tir Na n-Og Awards over the years, there are some authors you will definitely recognise, including Jenny Nimmo, Susan Cooper and Kevin Crossley-Holland. The award really deserves wider recognition, as it ensures that children in Wales can relate to settings they are familiar with, which are mirrored in contemporary literature. This is something that is becoming increasingly significant for children’s and young adults’ literature, and I think it is true for all of us: discovering something that we can relate to in fiction (or non-fiction) makes the reading experience much richer.

This year, as Chair of CILIP (Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals) Cymru Wales, who sponsor the award, I had the pleasure to interview four of the English-language shortlisted authors and one of the illustrators, on stage at the 2018 awards evening in the National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth. It was an exciting experience, as I have never been so closely involved with a book award before; I had the real pleasure of reading all the shortlisted titles beforehand, and had to keep the winner’s name secret until the evening. It really felt like a mini Welsh version of the Oscars!

Tir Na n-Og shortlisted English language authors

Pictured from left to right are Sharon Tregenza, Eloise Williams, Hayley Long, Wendy White and Valeriane Leblond at the Tir Na n-Og awards ceremony at the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth on 9 May 2018

The six titles on the Tir Na n-Og 2018 English shortlist represent a truly diverse selection. There were two picture books: Santa’s Greatest Gift by Tudor Dylan Jones, with gorgeous illustrations by Valeriane Leblond, and King of the Sky by Nicola Davies, with equally beautiful illustrations by Laura Carlin. Wendy White’s St David’s Day is Cancelled is firmly set in a primary school with a particularly unpleasant headmistress: 8–10-year-olds will love it! Eloise Williams takes us on a journey back to the grimy streets and backstage at the theatre in Victorian Cardiff with Gaslight, and Sharon Tregenza transports us on a rollicking adventure to Pembrokeshire with The Jewelled Jaguar. I loved all of these for many different reasons, and wondered how you can even begin to judge between such a broad range of books. Luckily that wasn’t my job!

Now for a confession: I left the eventual winner, Hayley Long’s The Nearby Faraway Place, until last on my reading list. The first chapter has brothers Griff and Dylan surviving a freak car accident that kills their parents in New York, which means that they have to go and live with their Auntie Dee in Aberystwyth: quite an adjustment, as you can imagine. The reason I was avoiding this book was that I didn’t want to engage with something that sounded so depressing – but when I did, I was overwhelmed. There are moments of real sadness and grief, as well as a few laughs along the way, not to mention the redeeming feature: a recommended playlist of tracks at the end. The book richly deserved the award, and I am so glad I had to read it, as it would have passed me by otherwise. I urge you all to go out and read it, along with the other shortlisted books: you won’t be disappointed, and you will almost certainly be surprised!