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´óÏó´«Ã½ 6 Music presenter and former Catatonia star Cerys Matthews will be on the judging panel for a new award category in the .

The Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers award has been created specifically to support unpublished British novel writers under the age of 30 using electronic book formats for the entire process, from submission of the entries through to the judging stage and then publication.

The winner will receive a cash prize of £5,000 and their book will be published in eBook format and made available for download from the Sony UK website.

Matthews, who is currently working on her own novel, will join literary experts on the panel including journalist Allison Pearson, screenwriter Andrew Davies and founder of the Dylan Thomas Prize, Peter Stead.

The panel will shortlist three finalists, and the winner will be announced at the Dylan Thomas Prize Awards ceremony on 1 December.

Upon accepting the judge's role, Matthews said: "As a writer myself, I appreciate the work that goes into trying to get a book published. The Sony Reader Award for Unpublished Writers provides a great stepping stone in helping up and coming writers to achieve that end goal. I am really looking forward to judging the category."

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