Eight novels by Irish authors are among the 154 titles on the longlist of books nominated by libraries worldwide for the €100,000 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English.
Nominations also include 43 American, 22 British and 12 Canadian novels, as well as 42 books translated into English from 19 other languages.
Organised by Dublin City Public Libraries, the 2013 Award was launched on 12th November by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr Naoise Ó Muirí, Patron of the Award, at a ceremony in The Dublin City Library & Archive. The Irish titles are:
- On Canaan’s Side by Sebastian Barry, nominated by San Diego Public Library, USA and by Dublin City Public Libraries, Ireland.
- City of Bohane by Kevin Barry, nominated by Cork City Libraries, Limerick City Library and Dublin City Public Libraries, Ireland.
- The Absolutist by John Boyne, nominated by Liverpool City Library & Information Services, UK and Tampere City Library, Finland
- The Dulang Washer by Paul Callan, nominated by The National Library of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
- Long Time, No See by Dermot Healy nominated by Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek, Norway and The Library for Foreign Literature, Moscow, Russia
- The Cold Eye of Heaven by Christine Dwyer Hickey, nominated by Bergen Offentlige Bibliotek, Norway
- Twice Born by (Irish/Italian) author Margaret Mazzantini, nominated by Waterford County Library, Ireland and by Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma, Italy
- Double Talk by Patrick Warner (now living in Canada), nominated by The Provincial Resource Library, St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada
‘This is the highest number of Irish authors ever to be nominated in any one year by libraries around the world for the IMPAC DUBLIN Award’ said Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian. ‘It says a lot for the high quality of writing coming from Irish writers currently and it reinforces Dublin’s status as UNESCO City of Literature’.
Lord Mayor Naoise Ó Muirí noted that Belfast born Jane Harris was also nominated for her novel, Gillespie and I, and he commended the IMPAC DUBLIN Award for its promotion of excellence in world literature as well as for the opportunity to promote Irish writing internationally.
‘The 154 eligible nominations for the IMPAC DUBLIN 2013 come from 120 cities and 44 countries worldwide. 42 are titles in translation, spanning 19 languages and 47 are first novels’ he said. ‘This is the highest number of translated novels, first novels and novels by Irish authors to be nominated, since the IMPAC DUBLIN Award’s inception in 1996. Like every year, you will find new books and new authors, particularly those novels in translation that you might otherwise never come across and you can pit yourself against the international panel of judges and pick your own favourite novel, before I announce the the shortlist (9th April) and then the winner (6th June) next year.”
All the novels nominated for the Award are available for readers to borrow from Dublin’s public libraries.
The names of the judges for the 2013 Award were also announced on 12th November, and they are Irish author, Patrick Mc Cabe; Salim Bachi, an Algerian novelist based in Paris; Krista Kaer, Estonian translator, academic and publisher; Kamila Shamsie, a novelist from Pakistan based in London, and Clive Sinclair, British author and academic. The Non-voting Chairperson is Eugene R. Sullivan.
Among the other novels nominated for the 2013 Award are The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize, Pure by Andrew Miller, winner of the 2011 Costa Prize and 1999 winner of this award and The Sisters Brothers by Patrick de Witt, winner of the Canadian Governor General’s Award for Fiction 2011.
Among the 42 translated authors are; Haruki Murakami (Japan) Jean Echenoz, (France) Umberto Eco,(Italy) Roy Jacobsen (Norway) and Ingo Schulze (Germany).
The most nominated book is The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, which received fifteen nominations from libraries in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, The UK and the USA. Other books nominated by multiple libraries are The Sisters Brothers by Canadian writer, Patrick de Witt, and two debut American novels, The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach, and The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht.