With books nominated by 84 libraries from 31 countries, 3 novels by Irish authors are in the running for the €100,000 prize sponsored by Dublin City Council
Monday 30th January 2023: Novels by three Irish authors are among the 70 books nominated by libraries around the world for the 2023 Dublin Literary Award, which is sponsored by Dublin City Council. Now in its 28th 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.
Nominations include 29 novels in translation, with works nominated by 84 libraries from 31 countries across Africa, Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, South America, Australia, and New Zealand. 14 are debut novels. If the winning book has been translated, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.
Among the 29 translated books are novels originally published in Arabic, Bulgarian, Dutch, Hindi, Korean, Slovene, Icelandic and Japanese.
The Irish titles nominated for the 2023 Award are:
- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan, published by Faber Books, and nominated by Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown Libraries Dublin, Galway Public Libraries, Waterford City and County Library, in Ireland, and Chicago Public Library, United States.
- 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard, published by Corvus (Atlantic Books) and nominated by Cork City Libraries, Ireland.
- The Magician by Colm Tóibín, published by Penguin Random House, and nominated by Bibliotheek Gent, Belgium.
dublinliteraryaward.ie #DublinLitAward
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The shortlist will be unveiled on 28th March and the winner will be announced by Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Caroline Conroy, on 25th May 2023, as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin, which is also funded by Dublin City Council.
The novels nominated 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, Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr. Caroline Conroy said “This year’s Dublin Literary Award longlist is a fascinating chain of stories unifying readers across cultures and countries, more relevant now than ever before. I encourage you to drop into your local library to explore the list over the next few months, it not only rewards the reader but also has the power to transform you too.”
The international panel of judges who will select the shortlist and winner, features Gabriel Gbadamosi who is an Irish and Nigerian poet, playwright and critic based in London; Marie Hermet who is a writer and translator who teaches creative writing and translation at the Université Paris Cité; English writer Sarah Moss who is the author of eight novels and now teaches on the MA and MFA in creative writing at UCD; Doireann Ní Ghríofa who is a bilingual poet, essayist and translator from Co. Clare; and Arunava Sinha who translates fiction, non-fiction and poetry from Bengali to English and from English to Bengali and has won several translation awards in India.
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.
The longlist of 70 titles can be viewed in the attached PDF file and at dublinliteraryaward.ie
ENDS
For further information contact:
Sinead O’Doherty, O’Doherty Communications
T: +353 86 259 1070 eMail: sinead@odohertycommunications.com
Dublin City Council Media Relations Office
T: 01-222 2170, +353 87 740 0277 eMail: press@dublincity.ie
https://twitter.com/DubcityCouncil www.facebook.com/DublinCityCouncil
Notes for editors
Read more information about the Judging Panel here
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for consideration for the 2023 Award, a novel must have been:
- a) first published in English between 1st July 2021 and 30th June 2022, both dates inclusive, or
- b) first published in a language other than English between 1st July 2012 and 30th June 2022 and first published in English translation between 1st July 2021 and 30th June 2022, all dates inclusive.
Novels in Translation
Among the 29 translated books are novels originally published in Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hindi, Icelandic, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.
Translated authors include Reem Bassiouney (Arabic), Georgi Gospodinov (Bulgarian), Thorvald Steen (Norwegian), Johka Alharthi (Arabic), Sang Young Park (Korean), Geetanjali Shree (Hindi) and Yoko Tawada (Japanese), and translators include Roger Allen, Marilyn Booth, Sophie Hughes, Anton Hur, Daisy Rockwell and Sam Taylor.
Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan and The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak received four nominations each, and Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus received three nominations.
Previous Dublin Literary Award winners:
2022: The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter (French), translated by Frank Wynne
2021: Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (Mexican)
2020: Milkman by Anna Burns (Irish)
2019: Idaho by Emily Ruskovich (American)
2018: Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Irish)
2017: A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa (Angolan), translated by Daniel Hahn
2016: Family Life by Akhil Sharma (American)
2015: Harvest by Jim Crace (British)
2014: The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Colombian), translated by Anne McLean
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) | Alistair MacLeod sadly passed in 2014.
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
1996: Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (Australian)