2012 Dylan Thomas Prize shortlist

21 year old Nigerian novelist is the youngest of five rising literary stars shortlisted for the 2012 University of Wales' Dylan Thomas Prize. Open to any published author in the English language under the age of 30, the annual international prize is one of the largest of its kind in the world for young writers. 21 year old Chibundu Onuzo's book The Spider King's Daughter is a modern-day Romeo and Juliet set against the backdrop of a changing Lagos. Also from Africa is Zimbabwe-raised Andrea Eames' The White Shadow, set in 1970's Rhodesia, where a young boy struggles to do the right thing in an unpredictable world. Californian Maggie Shipstead's debut novel Seating Arrangements, which lays bare the pretentions of New England society, also makes the cut, along with Tom Benn's crime fiction debut The Doll Princess, which explores the criminal underworld of 90's Manchester. Canadian D.W. Wilson's collection of short stories Once You Break a Knuckle, about good people who make bad choices, completes a list of powerful and exciting books with a truly international reach, in which violence, repression and the difficulty of escaping pre-determined roles are themes which prevail throughout. The five young writers were chosen by a panel of judges including Hay Festival founder Peter Florence, novelist Allison Pearson, author, singer and BBC 6 music presenter Cerys Matthews, and Guardian Review journalist Nicholas Wroe