Debut Palestinian novelist Yasmin Zaher wins world’s largest literary award for young writers with The Coin

Palestinian author Yasmin Zaher has been revealed as the winner of the world’s largest and most prestigious literary prize for young writers – the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize – for her debut novel, The Coin, marking twenty years of this global accolade.

Chosen in a unanimous decision by this year’s judging panel, The Coin is said to draw on Zaher’s personal experiences to dissect nature and civilisation, beauty and justice, class and belonging in a vivid exploration of identity and heritage.

Zaher has been awarded the £20,000 prize – which celebrates exceptional literary talent aged 39 or under – at the ceremony held in Swansea tonight.

Namita Gokhale, Chair of Judges, said on behalf of the panel: “Whittling our exceptional longlist of twelve down to six brilliant books, and then again to just one, was not an easy exercise – yet the judging panel was unanimous in their decision to name debut novelist Yasmin Zaher as the winner of the 2025 Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize.

“Zaher brings complexity and intensity to the page through her elegantly concise writing: The Coin is a borderless novel, tackling trauma and grief with bold and poetic moments of quirkiness and humour. It fizzes with electric energy. Yasmin Zaher is an extraordinary winner to mark twenty years of this vital prize.”

The other titles shortlisted for the 2025 Prize were Irish authors Seán Ferdia and Ferdia Lennon for Rapture’s Road and Glorious Exploits respectively, as well as The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden, I Will Crash by Rebecca Watson, and Moderate to Poor, Occasionally Good by Eley Williams.

Yasmin Zaher joins an astonishing list of writers to have been awarded this prestigious prize, including Caleb Azumah Nelson, Arinze Ifeakandu, Patricia Lockwood, Max Porter, Raven Leilani, Bryan Washington, Maggie Shipstead, Guy Gunaratne, and Kayo Chingonyi.