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John Harrison. Photo: Celf Calon

John Harrison's Cloud Road, an account of his five-month journey through through the Andes, has been named as the English-language 2011 Wales Book of the Year.

The winner of the Welsh-language award was Ned Thomas for his autobiography Bydoedd. Read more about the book and its author on the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Cymru website.

Harrison grew up in Liverpool, but moved to Cardiff following his postgraduate studies. He works as a freelance writer, lecturer and travel guide in remote regions, and has twice won the Alexander Cordell Travel Writing prize.

Cloud Road was published by Parthian in 2010, and recounts his time travelling in remote villages along the great road of the Incas - the Camino Real, or Royal Road. Harrison walked more than 1,500 miles, from the Equator to Cuzco and to Machu Picchu.

Ned Thomas. Photo: Celf Calon

The other shortlisted English-language works were Terminal World by Alastair Reynolds and What The Water Gave Me by Pascale Petit. The judges on the English-language panel were Francesca Rhydderch, Jon Gower and Deborah Kay Davies.

Ms Rhydderch said of Cloud Road: "Open this book - any page will do - and you will find lyrical, sharply observed descriptions that convey you to another time and place, while keeping you anchored in the realities of the here and now.

"It has a layered texture that comes from deep, unstinting research, and a control of voice that is the hallmark of a committed, well-practised talent. This is an unusually powerful and moving book."