Dylan Thomas Prize: the shortlist Five writers from all over the world are competing for the annual £30,000 Dylan Thomas Prize. The award, which is open to any published writer in the English language under the age of 30, is named in memory of the Welsh poet who died at the age of 39. It seeks to encourage younger writers at the start of their careers. On the shorlist is 21-year-old Nigerian writer Chibundu Onuzo's The Spider King's Daughter (Faber) is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet set against the backdrop of a changing Lagos. Also from Africa is 26-year-old Andrea Eames" The White Shadow (Harvill Secker/Random House), set in Seventies Rhodesia. 28-year-old Californian Maggie Shipstead's debut novel Seating Arrangements (Blue Door) lays bare the pretentions of New England society, and 24-year-old British author Tom Benn's The Doll Princess (Vintage), set in the aftermath of the 1996 IRA bomb in Manchester, is a crime novel that follows the city's gangs. Canadian DW Wilson, 27 years old, has also been nominated for an acclaimed collection of short stories Once You Break a Knuckle (Bloomsbury). The five young writers were chosen by a panel of judges including Telegraph columnist Allison Pearson, Hay Festival founder Peter Florence and musician and BBC 6 music presenter Cerys Matthews.