TWO women from Aberystwyth and a Newcastle Emlyn man have been recognised by the Queen in the New Year’s Honours list.

Writer Fiona Sampson, who grew up in Aberystwyth and attended Cwmpadarn Primary School and Penglais Comprehensive, has been awarded an MBE for services to literature and the literary community, while Audrey Evans has received a BEM (British Empire Medal) for services to the community in Ceredigion.

An MBE also went to Lyndon Lloyd of Newcastle Emlyn, the president of Age Cymru Ceredigion.

Fiona described the award as ending an “astonishing year” for her, in which she published two books, and won major international literary prizes.

Fiona, who has received numerous awards for her writing and has published 27 books, is currently working on a new biography of Mary Shelley to mark the bicentenary of Frankenstein’s appearance, and her book about Limestone Country will be published by Little Toller in the spring.

As well as for her writing, Fiona was given the honour for her work as an internationally-recognised editor, and the setting up of the first international poetry festival in Wales.

Fiona said she was “delighted to receive the honour, at a time when the arts were in danger of being undervalued.”

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