Gareth Miles wins Welsh-language book of the year
Guild member Gareth Miles has won the Welsh-language category of the prestigious Wales Book of the Year Awards 2008. His book, Y Proffwyd a’i Ddwy Jesebel, took the £10,000 first prize, while Dannie Abse won the English language category.
Gareth Miles was born in Caernarfon and educated at the University of Wales Bangor. In addition to writing dozens of television scripts, he has written five novels, three collections of short stories, more than twenty original plays and translations, and numerous critical essays and reviews.
Y Proffwyd a’i Ddwy Jesebel is set against the fiery background of the religious revival:
"In the course of his work as Chief Reporter for the South Wales Daily News, W. T. Davies (1860-1928) wrote countless reports and articles about the 1904-1905 revival. Even so, he did not dare to mention the tempestuous three-way relationship between the reformer Ivor Lewis and two beautiful women: Magdalen Morgan the 'Nightingale of the Revival' who had been a prostitute in the East End in London before her conversion, and the wealthy widow Elinor Pennington-Rees."
The Wales Book of the Year Award is a joint project managed by the Academi and funded by the Arts Council of Wales. It has the support of both the BBC and the Welsh Books Council.
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