Gwynedd and Ceredigion writers have triumphed at the 2024 Tir na n-Og award.

Megan Angharad Hunter’s Astronot yn yr Atig won the secondary age category in the Welsh language awards.

This is a novel about friendship, time-travelling, growing up in a complex and difficult world, and pushing the boundaries of the imagination to the extreme.

Megan said: “There are no words to describe how much this honour means to me. As a child and during my teens I always kept an eye on the Tir na n-Og Awards, so winning it – and especially winning it for a book that is so close to my heart – is an amazingly surreal experience.

“A novel like Astronot yn yr Atig would have been a big comfort to me when I was in school and so I hope it will be a comfort to children in Wales today as well, while taking them on an exciting and imaginative journey through space!

The Tir na n-Og Awards are so important because children’s books don’t get nearly enough attention, especially original Welsh-language books, which is ironic because we need children to read in order to ensure there will be adult Welsh readers in the future! There are many reasons why I think children’s books are more important, possibly, than books for adults, and this is just one of them.”

Pupils from Ysgol Pennant, Penybont Fawr, and Gwenno Wigley from Ysgol Bro Hyddgen, Machynlleth played a special role in the award ceremony, performing extracts from winning novel for the authors and audience.

Also announced were the winner of the Welsh-language Readers’ Choice Awards, special awards chosen by youngsters who took part in the Tir na n-Og Shadowing Scheme.

The winner of the Welsh-language primary category Readers’ Choice Award is Mari a Mrs Cloch by Caryl Lewis, who is originally from Dihewyd near Aberaeron, illustrated by Valériane Leblond, who lives near Aberystwyth (Y Lolfa).

The winner of the Welsh-language secondary category Readers’ Choice Award is Sêr y Nos yn Gwenu by Casia Wiliam, from Nefyn, Gwynedd (Y Lolfa).