Barragry wins Staróg Prize and secures publishing contract with Walker Books

Dee Barragry has won the inaugural Staróg Prize, run by Walker Books, PaperCuts Literary Consultancy and the Sunday Independent. The author has been awarded an international publishing contract with Walker Books for her novel The Lampwick Chronicles and representation with PaperCuts.

Two runners-up, Kevin Moran and Ruth Stevenson, have also won a one-year mentorship from Gráinne Clear, editorial director for fiction at Walker Books, and Polly Nolan, founder and m.d. of PaperCuts Literary Consultancy, with their books The Finalists and Callum Copernicus and the Runaway Circus, respectively. 

The winning entry, which will be published in 2025, is a young middle-grade "fantasy caper" following the story of an astronomer and guardian of "the lamp at the top of the world". The synopsis says: "When the Moon disappears, this reclusive boy and his sheepdog Humphrey are pulled onto a quest to find it and avert disaster. It will take wits, magic and the help of unexpected friends to find the Moon and return it to the sky. And all in time for breakfast!"

The Staróg Prize, which translates to “yarn” or “story”, is the only writing prize in Ireland solely for Irish writers of children’s fiction that offers a publishing deal and representation by an agent.

Barragry, said: "I am pleased to the core to have won the inaugural Staróg Prize. The dream combination of a publishing deal for The Lampwick Chronicles with Walker Books and representation by Polly Nolan is beyond my wildest imaginings. My characters can’t wait to meet the world."

Clear added: “I’m delighted to have found the stand-out new voice in Irish writing that is Dee Barragry. The Lampwick Chronicles takes us on a magical, character-led journey through a blend of lyrical prose and mischievous humour, and is everything a young reader could want.

"We set up this competition to find exciting, undiscovered talent in Irish writing for children – and we have most certainly found that in Dee, as well as in our brilliant runners-up Kevin Moran and Ruth Stevenson.”

Nolan commented: “It’s an open secret that Ireland is bursting with talented writers. That so many of them are writing for children makes the heart sing… though it did also make it very hard to choose a winner. We send our warmest thanks to everybody who entered and our warmest congratulations to our winner and two runners-up."