Now settled in South Wales where he is a magazine contributor. First novel.LUCY CALDWELL, Where They Were MissedBorn in Belfast in 1981. Already an award-winning playwright, she is currently writing a new work for the Royal Court in London where she lives First novel. Pictured above.JOEY GOEBEL, Torture the ArtistBorn 1980 in Kentucky Previously a musician, screenwriter and record reviewer.

Professor Stead said: "As part of awarding this prize, we look forward to celebrating the memory of one of Wales's most distinguished literary talents." Long-list of 13 authors and 14 books .. JAMES SCUDAMORE, The Amnesia ClinicBorn 1976. After studying languages at Oxford and working in advertising, took the creative writing MA course at the University of East Anglia First novel. The shortlist of entries will be announced in September and the shortlisted writers invited to participate in a series of events in Wales and North America, involving organisations including Swansea University, the University of Texas and the BBC.An award ceremony will be held in October. EDS, the headline sponsors, are a technology services company based in Thomas's home town of Swansea.The biennial prize is open to any published writer of fiction, poetry or drama in the English language under the age of 30 and attracted submissions from authors in Australia, North America, Africa and Europe.Andrew Davies, the award-winning screenplay writer who chaired the judging panel, said the standard of the works was outstanding."This unique prize was established to celebrate young, talented writers worldwide and these works aptly showcase the excellence of creative writing that exists across the entire English-speaking world."This award honours a truly great writer who died while still a young man and I am sure it will be a great encouragement to talented young writers."The other judges include Simon Kelner, editor-in-chief of The Independent, Menna Elfyn, the Welsh poet and playwright, and Paul Watkins, a Welsh-American novelist.Professor Peter Stead, a Welsh academic also on the panel, said they were delighted to have received entries from every corner of the English-speaking world."The prize is very much aimed at encouraging, promoting and rewarding all forms of creative writing amongst the world's young and flourishing authors."As with the Artes Mundi international art prize which has been established in Wales, the Dylan Thomas Award is part of an attempt to develop Welsh cultural life within an international context. The similarly themed Two, Sayonara Bar by Susan Barker and The Amnesia Clinic by James Scudamore, are about a year abroad, and gap-year travelling experiences.The EDS Dylan Thomas Prize has been sponsored by a consortium of public authorities and private companies with the aim of conveying the commitment of the people of Wales to new writing in the English language. He published his first volume of poems at the age of 20 and was dead before another two decades had passed.

But the spirit of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas is being kept alive with a new prize for other young literary talents. The long-list for the inaugural £60,000 award was announced yesterday. Nick Laird, the acclaimed poet married to Zadie Smith, has two entries on the long-list with both his debut novel, Utterly Monkey, and his first poetry collection, To A Fault.His rivals for one of the most valuable prizes in literature range from James Scudamore, a former advertising executive, to Joey Goebel, a former racetrack employee in Kentucky.The two youngest authors in the running for the prize, at 25, are Ian Holding, a teacher in Zimbabwe, and Belfast-born Lucy Caldwell, whose awards hitherto have been for her work as a playwright.The subjects of the 14 books include sex, Hollywood, race relations and prejudice. Valiant 8.52Box office results for the top 20 films released in the UK and Republic of Ireland, 2005Source: Nielsen EDI,RSU analysis. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe 43.643. Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith 39.434.Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 37.465 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit 32.006 War of the Worlds 30.657 King Kong 30.048.Meet the Fockers 28.939 Madagascar 22.6510 Hitch 17.3911 Nanny McPhee 16.4912 Batman Begins 16.4213 Pride and Prejudice 14.5714 Mr and Mrs Smith 13.5915 Wedding Crashers 13.1616 Fantastic Four 12.7117 Ocean's Twelve 12.5818 Robots 12.4819 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 10.6720. Comedy was the top-grossing genre, of which the star-studded Meet the Fockers was the biggest hit.Dramas and comedies with romantic themes appealed most to female audiences while action films, science fiction and fantasy tended to pull in the men Top films (with box office gross in £m) 1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire* 48.592. More than 200 foreign language films in 32 different languages ranging from Farsi to Telugu took nearly £27 million at the box office, a 57 per cent increase since 2002.Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, said: "Harry Potter, Nanny McPhee and Willy Wonka have all been hits at home and abroad - helping us achieve great success at the box office."I hope that next year, buoyed by the new tax incentive, the UK film industry will be in even better health."Teenagers and young adults were the most frequent cinema-goers but the over-35 audience has increased substantially.Family-orientated films - that is, those carrying 12A certificates - accounted for the largest share of the box office at more than 40 per cent.