An author originally from a farm in Radnorshire, who now lives in the Brecon Beacons, is ‘delighted’ to have won Literature Wales’s Wales Book of the Year award.

Speaking to The Brecon and Radnor Express, Tom Bullough, author of Sarn Helen, said: “Well, I’m delighted frankly. You never write with a view to winning prizes, but it's an enormous lift, all the same, a real honour. It makes me feel hopeful too. It means, I hope, that people are beginning to engage with the climate and nature crisis - and nothing could be more important than that.”

Sarn Helen, illustrated by Jackie Morris, won the award during an award ceremony in Gallery, Caernarfon. Comedian and presenter Tudur Owen hosted. The book is described as an immersive and evocative non-fictional journey through Wales and a revelatory meditation on the nation's past, present and future. Sarn Helen - Helen's Causeway - is the old Roman Road that runs from the south of Wales to the north.

Sarn Helen is the winner of the Overall English-language Wales Book of the Year Award, whilst Sut i Ddofi Corryn by Mari George took home the Overall Award in the Welsh-language.

Tom hadn’t expected the win. “There were so many excellent books on the shortlists. I still a bit hard to believe, to be honest!”

The support has been phenomenal, and Tom is still taking it all in. “Literature Wales has been great, as has my publisher Granta Books. But most of all I have to thank all the people who have emailed and messaged me over the past few days. It's been such a joy to hear how the book has touched them. It really means the world.”

Tom Bullough grew up on a hill farm in Radnorshire, Wales, and lives in Bannau Brycheiniog with his children. He is the author of four novels – A (Sort Of Books), The Claude Glass (Sort Of Books), Konstantin (Penguin Books Ltd), and Addlands (Granta). Sarn Helen is his first work of nonfiction. Tom is a climate activist and a freelance tutor in creative writing, and runs regular courses on climate and writing for change.