Sarah Ziman’s ‘Why Did My Brain Make Me Say It?’ shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year Award 2025
Sarah Ziman
The team here at ‘Troika Towers’ is thrilled to bits that Sarah Ziman’s debut poetry collection, Why Did My Brain Make Me Say It? has been shortlisted for the Wales Book of the Year Award 2025!
This annual prize celebrates outstanding literary talent from Wales across four genres: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction and Children & Young People, and includes books written in both English and Welsh. The competition is judged by two separate panels focusing on each of the two languages respectively.
The awards play an essential part in Literature Wales’ programme of activity and contribute to its aim of celebrating and representing Wales’ writers, its heritage and rich literary culture. The prize offers an invaluable platform to both emerging and established writers.
Why Did My Brain Make Me Say It? is shortlisted in the English language ‘Children & Young People’ category award, though the book does also include some Welsh language content.
This book, described by The Guardian as “a joyous, zingy feast of verse”, is in fact a ‘double first’. In addition to being author Sarah Ziman’s debut, it’s also the inaugural title in our Troika First series, an initiative in which we publish the first children’s poetry collection of an early career author.
We have no doubt that, for the very talented Sarah, this will be a first collection of many. Her acute observations of children’s day-to-day experiences, combined with her playful and inventive use of language, are real winners with readers.
As for us, watch this space for a forthcoming announcement of our second Troika First!
The winners of this year’s Wales Book of the Year Award will be revealed at a special ceremony at Cardiff's Sherman Theatre on 17th July. Wewish everyone the best of luck, while Troika’s fingers are of course very tightly crossed for Sarah!
Discover more about, and read extracts from, Sarah Ziman’s Why Did My Brain Make Me Say It?
Cast your vote now!
If you fancy taking part in the final decision, the Awards also feature a People’s Choice category in which anyone can vote - cast your vote now HERE.
