Introducing the Best Wildcard Category
The Best Wildcard Award category is the newest in the Saboteur Awards rota. We piloted it last year to replace the Best One-Off Event Category – which we felt mystified a lot of people. We also created it to respond to the demand for a more flexible category for works, people, or events that didn’t fit into any category. Last year’s inaugural winner was Abi Palmer’s Alchemy – an interactive object that also exists as a performance. Previous winners in the Best One-Off Event category are Jo Bell’s 52 Project; Against Rape – an online protest; and Shake the Dust – the biggest youth slam.
Who will be on this year’s shortlist? Last year’s shortlist comprised a one-off performance at COP21, an art and poetry exhibition, a community project, and a poet writing in Gaelic. I hope this year’s shortlist is similarly eclectic – so far I have noticed nominations for podcasts, mentoring programs, pillars of the poetry community, online groups, and fringe festivals, among other things. If you encounter something or someone wonderful and unexpected that you’d like more people to know about, do nominate them!
This year, we are also lucky that the Best Wildcard Award is supported by Literature Wales, as part of International Dylan Thomas Day – the winner will receive a selection of goodies from them! The date of our awards, 13th May was chosen to coincide with official celebrations of Dylan Thomas on 14th May.
Have you nominated your favourites yet? If not, head over here now.
