January 20th, 2006
Inaugural Irish Books Award shortlist announced
The first Irish Book Awards shortlist has been revealed and features a clutch of well-known authors like John Banville, John McGahern, David McWilliams and Fergal Keane. The awards will be made in three categories - fiction, non-fiction and children’s books - and will be announced at a ceremony on March 1st.
Irish booksellers Hughes & Hughes will again sponsor the Irish Novel of the Year and two new categories will complete the IBA awards this year. The novel category pits John Banville’s The Sea against William Wall’s This is the Country , Utterly Monkey, the debut novel by poet Nick Laird, Nothing Simple by Lia Mills, Mike McCormack’s Notes From a Coma and The Winner of Sorrow by Brian Lynch.
John McGahern’s Memoir is nominated alongside White Savage by Fintan O’Toole, All of These People by Fergal Keane, In the Dark Room by Brian Dillon, Donal Nevin’s James Connolly biography and David McWilliams’ The Pope’s Children.
Six authors - Siobhan Parkinson, Sam McBratney, John Quinn, Kate Thompson, Malachy Doyle and Deirdre Madden - are nominated for The Dublin Airport Authority Irish Children’s Book of the Year.
The prize fund is a substantial €22,500 and along with the IMPAC €100,000 prize proves that Ireland offers some of biggest monetary prizes for writing in the literary world.
January 21st, 2006 at 1:47 pm
i think mcgahern’s memoir is a wonderful book, genuinely emotional and beautifully written. if anyone asked what i’ve been reading, long after i finished it, i said mcgahern, just so i could talk about it again.