Eight Gwynedd writers have been shortlisted for this year’s Wales Book of the Year awards.

The awards celebrate talented Welsh writers who excel in a variety of literary forms in both Welsh and English.

Twenty-four books - 12 in each language, three in each category (Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction, Fiction, and Children & Young People) - have been shortlisted.

Glyn Edwards is shortlisted in the English-language poetry category for ‘In Orbit’. The PhD researcher in eco-poetry at Bangor University uses a variety of innovative forms for ‘In Orbit’ to explore loss.

Seven Gwynedd writers make the Welsh language shortlist.

Nominated in the Poetry category are Guto Dafydd for ‘Mae Bywyd Yma’ and Gruffudd Owen for ‘Mymryn Rhyddid’.

Guto’s collaboration with photographer Dafydd Nant is a celebration of their local landscape in Llŷn, capturing the area’s beauty and its diverse heritage. Guto is originally from Trefor and now lives in Pwllheli.

In ‘Mymryn Rhyddid’ Gruffudd reckons with the constant pull between his life in Cardiff and his upbringing in Pwllheli, and the 'God-shaped gap' that upbringing has left him.

Shortlisted for the Creative Non-Fiction category is ‘Trothwy’ by Iwan Rhys. A factual creative volume comprising reflections on the author's experiences as he finds his place in the world: as a stepfather, as a regular visitor to Berlin and as a frequenter of the Twthill Vaults in Caernarfon, where he now lives.

Llŷr Titus from Brynmawr near Sarn in Pen Llŷn is shortlisted in the Fiction category for ‘Anfadwaith’, a dark fantasy novel that intertwines mystery and crime in an imaginative world.

His novel, ‘Pridd’ (Gwasg y Bwthyn) won the Overall Wales Book of the Year Award in the Welsh Language in 2023.

Also in that category is ‘Raffl’, a collection of short stories by priest Aled Jones Williams who was raised near Caernarfon, and studied at Bangor University. His Welsh-language book ‘Rhaid i ti fyned y daith honno dy hun’ (Gwasg Pantycelyn) was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year in 2022.

Seran Dolma’s ‘Y Nendyrau’ is shortlisted in the Children & Young People’s category.

Seran tackles themes including climate change, brotherhood, survival instinct, and the relationship between the powerful and the poor.

Seran lives in Penrhyndeudraeth with her partner and their two sons.

Also in that category is ‘Astronot yn yr Atig’ by Megan Angharad Hunter.

Megan Angharad Hunter is an author and screenwriter, originally from Penygroes but now living in Cardiff. Her debut novel, ‘tu ôl i’r awyr’, was published in 2020 and went on to win the Wales Book of the Year Welsh-Language Overall Prize in 2021.

The winners will be announced at Galeri Caernarfon on Thursday, 4 July.

Twelve awards and a total of £14,000 in prizes will be shared amongst the writers - £1,000 each for the category winners and an additional £3,000 for the overall winner in both languages. In addition, each winner will receive an iconic Book of the Year trophy, specially designed by the talented artist Angharad Pearce Jones.