Longlist for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award is Revealed

With books nominated by 80 libraries from 35 countries, 4 novels by Irish authors are in the running for the €100,000 prize sponsored by Dublin City Council

Tuesday 16th January 2024: Novels by four Irish authors are among the 70 books nominated by 80 libraries around the world for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award, which is sponsored by Dublin City  Council. Celebrating excellence in world literature and now in its 29th year, this award is the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English, worth €100,000 to the winner.

The longlist compiled from libraries across 35 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, South America, Australia, and New Zealand, has 31 novels in translation and 16 debut novelists. New  Zealand author Catherine Chidgey has been nominated for two novels. If the winning book has been translated, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.

The 31 translated books represent 14 languages including Finnish, Hungarian, Romanian, Serbian and Turkish. Titles for the 2024 Award by Irish authors are:

• Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry, published by Faber & Faber, and nominated by Stadtbücherei Frankfurt am Main.
• My Father’s House by Joseph O’Connor, published by Harvill Secker, and nominated by Cork City Libraries, Ireland.
• Soldier, Sailor by Claire Kilroy, published by Faber & Faber, and nominated by Dublin City Libraries.
• Haven by Emma Donoghue, published by Picador/Pan Macmillan, and nominated by Toronto Public Library.

The shortlist will be unveiled on 26th March 2024 and the winner will be announced by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, on 23rd May 2024, as part of the International Literature Festival  Dublin, which is also funded by Dublin City Council.

The nominated novels will be available for readers to borrow from Dublin City Libraries and from public libraries around Ireland, and some can be borrowed as eBooks and eAudiobooks on the free  Borrowbox app, available to all public library users.

Download the complete longlist of library nominations here

Download a collage image of the complete longlist of library nominations here

Download the Dublin Literary Award Longlist Brochure here

Speaking at the launch of the longlist, Patron of the Award, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithí de Róiste said,

“This year’s longlist is an eclectic mix of world literature taking the reader on a journey through different cultures and traditions and highlights the importance of our shared literary imagination and the power of the written word.”

The international panel of judges who will select the shortlist and winner, features Irenosen Okojie, a Nigerian British author and journalist who has judged various literary prizes and received an MBE  for Services to Literature; Daniel Medin, a professor of comparative literature at the American University of Paris, where he teaches courses on East Central European literature and culture; Lucy  Collins an Associate Professor at University College Dublin, where she teaches modern and contemporary literature; Anton Hur, a Korean author and translator who was double-longlisted and shortlisted for the 2022 International Booker Prize; and Ingunn Snædal an Icelandic poet, translator, literary editor and teacher who has translated over 100 novels and children’s books from Danish,  Norwegian, Swedish, English and Icelandic, and received several nominations and accolades for her translations.

The non-voting Chairperson is Professor Chris Morash, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin.

Dublin City Librarian, Mairead Owens acknowledged the judging panel for their commitment and engagement with the award process this year with special thanks to the chair, Professor Chris Morash.