I am absolutely thrilled to be involved with the longlist celebrations for the Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize, the world’s largest and most prestigious literary prize for young writers, with authors hailing from across the world including the UK, Palestine, India, the Netherlands, and Ireland.
I am sharing my review today of one of the twelve longlisted novels, the bestselling Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon, but first let me tell with you a little bit about the prize.
‘Launched in 2006, the annual Swansea University Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for young writers, aimed at encouraging raw creative talent worldwide. It celebrates and nurtures international literary excellence. Worth £20,000, it is one of the UK’s most prestigious literary prizes as well as one of the world’s largest literary prizes for young writers. Awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under, the Prize celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama. The prize is named after the Swansea-born writer, Dylan Thomas, and celebrates his 39 years of creativity and productivity. One of the most influential, internationally renowned writers of the mid-twentieth century, the prize invokes his memory to support the writers of today and nurture the talents of tomorrow.‘
The shortlist will be announced tomorrow March 20th 2025 and the overall winner will be announced at the final awards ceremony on Thursday 15th May 2025.
[ About Glorious Exploits ]
Ancient Sicily. Enter GELON: visionary, dreamer, theatre lover. Enter LAMPO: lovesick, jobless, in need of a distraction.
Imprisoned in the quarries of Syracuse, thousands of defeated Athenians hang on by the thinnest of threads.
They’re fading in the baking heat, but not everything is lost: they can still recite lines from Greek tragedy when tempted by Lampo and Gelon with goatskins of wine and scraps of food.
And so an idea is born. Because, after all, you can hate the invaders but still love their poetry.
It’s audacious. It might even be dangerous. But like all the best things in life – love, friendship, art itself – it will reveal the very worst, and the very best, of what humans are capable of.
What could possibly go wrong?
[ My Review ]
‘So Gelon says to me, ‘Let’s go down and feed the Athenians. The weather’s perfect for feeding Athenians.’
Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon published with Penguin|Fig Tree January 18th 2024 and is described as ‘a bold and funny debut novel set in Ancient Sicily’.
Circa 412 BC, Ferdia Lennon takes the reader back in history to a tumultuous period when invading armies were relentless in their pilfering, and violence was common place in the lives of many communities. Following a failed attack by the Athenian forces on the historic city of Syracuse, the captive soldiers are thrown into the local quarry, chained up and left to survive on starvation rations. Life for the Athenians is quite brutal with death, at times, a relief as they scrounge from the earth to provide any bit of sustenance. Under the relentless heat and harrowing conditions, few remain upright, with little left to hope for. Hated by the local population, it’s not unusual for a Sicilian to be seen taking a life into his own hands in revenge for lives lost.
In the midst of all this pain and anguish, along come two friends with dreams. Gelon and Lampo are floundering, unemployed and listless. Gelon is a thespian, a dreamer with idealised notions. Lampo is bored, broke and frustrated with no notion about anything at all except where he will get some money to grab a bevvy. Gelon and Lampo frequent the quarry for distraction and unexpectedly discover that some of these Greek captives have tread the boards at some point, and are now still able to recite lines from some of the more well-known Greek tragedies.
In a rush to the head, Gelon puts forward an idea that they could stage a play, using the Athenians as willing participants, in return for food and beverages. What starts off as a nonsensical thought soon finds legs and, before they know it, the two friends embark on a gargantuan project. Their excitement colours their perspective on the dangers of the project they are about to undertake and they jump straight in without much of a plan in hand.
A Greek play performed by Greek actors in a quarry in Syracuse was something that the locals had never contemplated and, understandably, not everyone is happy. As Gelon and Lampo bond over this insanely ambitious project, there are rumblings nearby with their lives about to change in the most unexpected way.
Glorious Exploits is such a fun read but it is also littered with moments of desperation and horror, providing some small insight into the value attached to life at that time. It’s a very cleverly written tale with dark humour woven throughout the historical narrative, with the tragicomic aspect of the story enhancing its effect. With plenty of references to Greek mythology, it is novel that both educates and entertains, fulfilling the brief of many readers today. Gelon and Lampo’s bromance is beautifully portrayed. Their loyalty to each other is challenged on many occasions but their friendship has strong roots that assist them through some very exceptional circumstances. Extremely visual and vivid Glorious Exploits is a stonker of a read, a quirky unique tale, with Ferdia Lennon wasting no time captivating and entertaining his readers.
If you enjoyed watching Plebs, Horrible Histories or The Life of Brian, then this is most definitely the book for you.
[ Bio ]
Ferdia Lennon was born and raised in Dublin. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. Glorious Exploits is his first novel. A Sunday Times bestseller, it was adapted for BBC Radio 4 and was the winner of the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2024. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norwich with his wife and son.
I still have to read this book. It’s getting such excellent reviews and gathering awards. Fingers crossed he makes it to the shortlist.
I still have to read this book. Fingers crossed he makes it to the shortlist.
I hope so too Lucy. Such an original concept.
Glorious Exploits made the shortlist. And Sean Hewitt. Great news for new Irish writing.
I saw it earlier. I’m delighted I got the opportunity to read Glorious Exploits. Admittedly the only one from the shortlist