Debuts vie with Booker winner on Dublin Literary Award shortlist

Man Booker winner Marlon James and Folio Prize-winner Akhil Sharma are joined by debut novelists Mary Costello and Scholastique Mukasonga on the shortlist for the €100,000 2016 International Dublin Literary Award.

The full list is: Outlaws by Javier Cercas, translated from the Spanish by Anne McLean (Bloomsbury); Academy Street by Mary Costello (Canongate); Your Fathers, Where Are They? And The Prophets, Do They Live Forever? by Dave Eggers  (Hamish Hamilton); The End of Days by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated from the German by Susan Bernofsky (Portobello); A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James (Oneworld); Diary of the Fall by Michel Laub, translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa (Vintage), Our Lady of the Nile by Rwandan writer Scholastique Mukasonga, translated from French by Melanie Mauthner (Archipelago Books); Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (Granta); Lila by Marilynne Robinson (Virago); and Family Life by Akhil Sharma (Faber).

The award, the world's most valuable annual literary award for a single work of fiction published in English, is now sponsored by Dublin City Council, after the money from the original trust fund established for the prize ran out.

The books on this year’s shortlist were nominated by public libraries in Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Jamaica, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

The prize is managed by Dublin City Libraries. Librarian Margaret Hayes commented: “While many of the stories reflect contemporary themes, they bring us characters facing timeless challenges of love and loss, of innocence and isolation. These engaging stories are set against contrasting landscapes which include Brazil, India, and Rwanda.”

The winner will be announced on 9th June.