American poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney won the 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize for Joy Is My Middle Name. (Photo: swansea.ac.uk/press-office/) American poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney won the 2026 Dylan Thomas Prize on Thursday evening, taking home the £20,000 (approx. ₹25,88,800) award for her debut poetry collection Joy Is My Middle Name , published by London-based independent press Fitzcarraldo Editions. The Dylan Thomas Prize is one of the world’s most prestigious literary awards for writers aged 39 or under.  Named after the celebrated Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, who wrote the famous poem, “Do not go gentle into that good night” (1951), the Swansea University in Wales, UK hosts the award every year. Now in its  20th year, the prize recognises the best published work in English across poetry, novels, short stories and drama, making it one of the few major literary awards to honour poetry and fiction on equal footing.…