Carys Davies has clinched the 2025 Ondaatje Prize for her third novel, Clear, a poignant tale set on a Scottish island during the Highland Clearances, per theguardian.com. The £10,000 award, presented by the Royal Society of Literature (RSL), honours writing that vividly captures the essence of a place. Davies’ novel, lauded as a “masterpiece” by judge Ruth Gilligan, follows two men forging an unexpected bond amidst a vanishing world.
Clear immerses readers in the rugged beauty of island life, rendered with “exquisite, craggy detail,” according to Gilligan. The novel doubles as a universal meditation on home, belonging, and language’s power. Davies credited Faroese linguist Jakob Jakobsen’s dictionary of the extinct Shetland language as a vital resource, noting, “One of the 6,700 languages spoken globally is lost every two weeks.” She celebrated the prize’s role in honouring how words shape our world.
Announced at a London event on May 15, Davies triumphed over a shortlist featuring The Catchers by Xan Brooks and Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang, among others. The judging panel, including Gilligan, Charlie Craggs, and Roy McFarlane, praised Clear as a “love letter to the scorching power of language,” echoing Guardian reviewer Clare Clark’s acclaim for Davies’ economical yet evocative prose.
Davies, no stranger to accolades, has previously won the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award and Wales Book of the Year. Clear, published by Granta Books, joins the ranks of past Ondaatje winners like Hisham Matar and Lea Ypi, cementing Davies’ literary prowess.
