23 British novels on the 2014 longlist

23 BRITISH NOVELS NOMINATED FOR 2014 INTERNATIONAL IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD,  152 TITLES NOMINATED BY LIBRARIES WORLD WIDE

Twenty-three British novels are among 152 titles that have been 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.  Organised by Dublin City Public Libraries, the 2014 Award was launched today, by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Oisín Quinn, Patron of the Award, at a ceremony in The Dublin City Library & Archive.  The British titles include:

• Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

• Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan

• Toby’s Room by Pat Barker

• The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Also nominated were Capital by John Lanchester, Skagboys by Irvine Welsh,  A Possible Life by Sebastian Faulks and Standing in Another Man’s Grave by Ian Rankin.

Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian, announced that the 152 books eligible for the 2014 award were nominated by libraries in 110 cities and 39 countries worldwide: ‘41 are titles in translation’, she said, ‘spanning 17 languages,  and 47 are first novels’. “We are delighted that the UK continues to feature so strongly in the Award each year, she said, “and I want to thank the British libraries who nominated books for the Award. Being nominated for the Award will bring these writers to the attention of an even larger international audience.”

Lord Mayor, Oisín Quinn, commended the IMPAC DUBLIN Award for its promotion of excellence in world literature as well as for the opportunity to promote Irish writing internationally.  ‘Dublin is a UNESCO City of Literature and cultural tourism is a vital part of the City’s economy’ he said: ‘this prestigious Award enhances the City’s worldwide reputation as a literary destination’.

‘Readers at home and abroad’, said the Lord Mayor, ‘will find new books and new authors on the longlist, and they can pit themselves against the international panel of judges and pick their own favourite, before I announce the winner on 12^thJune next year’.

Longlisted books by British authors

UK Libraries Participating 2014

The 2014 Judging Panel comprises Irish author, Catherine Dunne (shortlisted for Irish Book Awards – 2013 Eason Novel of the Year); Malaysian novelist Tash Aw (longlisted for the 2013 Man Booker Prize); Giles Foden, British novelist and Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia; Maya Jaggi, award winning cultural journalist and critic for Guardian Review and Maciej Świerkocki, Polish translator, critic, scriptwriter, novelist and editor. The non-voting Chairperson is Eugene R. Sullivan.

Other novels nominated for the 2014 Award include Canada by Richard Ford, The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson , winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for  Fiction, and The Round House by Louise Erdrich, winner of the 2012 National Book Award.

Among the 41 translated authors are Mario Vargas Llosa (Peruvian-Spanish writer, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature); Karl Ove Knausgård (Norway), Herman Koch (The Netherlands) and Ragna Sigurðardóttir (Iceland).

Two previous winners of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2010 winner Gerbrand Bakker and 1998 winner Herta Müller, have also been nominated. Herta Müller was also the recipient of the 2009 Nobel prize. 

The most nominated books this year are Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel and Canada by Richard Ford, both of which received nine nominations from libraries in Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, Britain and America. Other books nominated by multiple libraries are The Dinner by Herman Koch, The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson, The Round House by Louise Erdrich and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by British author, Rachel Joyce.

The shortlist will be made public on 9^th April 2014

The Lord Mayor will announce the winner on 12^thJune 2014 

The International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English. Founded in partnership with IMPAC, the Award is an initiative of Dublin City Council, the municipal government of Dublin. The Award aims to promote excellence in world literature and nominations are submitted by library systems in major cities throughout the world. Designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, Dublin’s literary heritage is a significant driver of cultural tourism for the City.

Previous winners of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award:

• 2013: City of Bohane by Kevin Barry (Irish)
• 2012: Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor (British)
• 2011: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Irish)
• 2010: The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Dutch), translated by David Colmer
• 2009: Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas (American)
• 2008: De Niro’s Game by Rawi Hage (Lebanese / Canadian)
• 2007: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Norwegian), translated by Anne Born
• 2006: The Master by Colm Toibín (Irish)
• 2005: The Known World by Edward P. Jones (American)
• 2004: This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Moroccan) translated by Linda  Coverdale
• 2003: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish) translated by Erdag M. Göknar
• 2002: Atomised by Michel Houellebecq (French), translated by Frank Wynne
• 2001: No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod (Canadian)
• 2000: Wide Open by Nicola Barker (English)
• 1999: Ingenious Pain by Andrew Miller (English)
• 1998: The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller (Romanian), translated from German by Michael Hofmann
• 1997: A Heart So White by Javier Marías (Spanish), translated by Margaret Jull Costa
• 19996: Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (Australian)