The Port Talbot writer following in the footsteps of Sally Rooney

When Jon Doyle got a text from his publisher out of the blue, he assumed his debut book was about to be dropped.

But it turned out his novel, Communion, which is set in Doyle’s hometown of Port Talbot, had just been included on a list that’s previously celebrated Normal People author Sally Rooney and Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart.

Doyle, who still lives in the family home in Taibach, “punched the air” in disbelief when he found out and said it felt like a “small victory”.

Despite an impressive list of actors hailing from the town – Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen – Doyle, 37, said it took a long time to realise his home could rival cities like New York or London as a setting for the kind of books he wanted to write.