#DubLitAward
Tuesday 11th April 2017: 10 novels have been shortlisted for the 2017 International DUBLIN Literary Award, proudly sponsored by Dublin City Council and managed by Dublin City Libraries. The list includes novels by American authors, Chinelo Okparanta, Viet Thanh Nguyen and Hanya Yanagihara.
The International DUBLIN Literary Award is worth €100,000 to the winner and is the world’s most valuable annual literaryaward for a single work of fiction published in English. The award was launched on 7th April 1995 and is now in its 22nd year.
The shortlisted titles are:
1. A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa (Angolan) Translated from the Portuguese by Daniel Hahn. Published by Harvill Secker & Archipelago Books.
2. Confession of the Lioness by Mia Couto (Mozambican) Translated from the Portuguese by David Brookshaw. Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux & Harvill Secker.
3. The Green Road by Anne Enright (Irish ) Published by Jonathan Cape & W.W. Norton.
4. The Prophets of Eternal Fjord by Kim Leine (Danish/Norwegian) Translated from the Danish by Martin Aitken. Published by Atlantic Books & W.W. Norton.
5. The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli (Mexican) Translated from the Spanish by Christina MacSweeney. Published by Coffee House Press & Granta Books.
6. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen (Vietnamese/American) First novel. Published by Grove/Atlantic & Corsair.
7. Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta (Nigerian-American) Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt & Granta Books.
8. A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish) Translated from the Turkish by Ekin Oklap. Published by Faber & Faber.
9. A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler (Austrian) Translated from the German by Charlotte Collins. Published by Picador.
10. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (American) Published by Doubleday & Picador
There have been three American winners of the Award to date. Edward P. Jones was awarded the prize in 2005 for his novel The Known World, Michael Thomas in 2009 for Man Gone Down and in June 2016, Akhil Sharma received the prize for Family Life. Let The Great World Spin by Irish American author, Colum McCann, won the prize in 2011.
Library systems in 23 cities throughout the USA were among the libraries in 40 countries worldwide who nominated books for the 2017 longlist.
‘The titles on this year’s shortlist were nominated by public libraries in Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Sweden and the USA’, said Dublin’s Lord Mayor, Brendan Carr, Patron of the Award. ‘This is the beauty of this award; it reaches out to readers and authors worldwide, while also celebrating excellence in contemporary Irish literature represented on the 2017 shortlist by our laureate for Irish Fiction, Anne Enright.’
‘The 2017 winner will be chosen from this intriguing international shortlist which includes six novels in translation from Danish, German, Portuguese, Spanish and Turkish. The novels come from Angola, Austria, Denmark/Norway, Ireland, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Turkey, Vietnam and the USA’, said Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian. ‘Issues of conflict and communication are set against a myriad of cultural and family settings and in contemporary and historic time periods. For readers, these stories add new and absorbing characters to our circle of international literary acquaintances.’
The five member international judging panel, chaired by US Judge, the Hon. Eugene R. Sullivan, will select one winner which will be announced by Lord Mayor, Brendan Carr, Patron of the Award, on Wednesday 21st June.
The International DUBLIN Literary Award is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English. Nominations are made by library systems in major cities throughout the world. Established in 1994, the Award is now wholly funded by Dublin City Council. The Award aims to promote excellence in world literature. Designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, Dublin’s literary heritage is a significant driver of cultural tourism for the City.
Recent previous winners of the award include:
Family Life by Akhil Sharma (2016), Harvest by Jim Crace (2015), The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (2014), City of Bohane by Kevin Barry (2013)