Dublin Literary Award shortlists Sebastian Barry and Emma Donoghue

The shortlist for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award — worth £86,000, making it the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction — has been announced, including Sebastian Barry and Emma Donoghue.

Barry’s Old God’s Time (Faber) is among those shortlisted alongside Donoghue’s Haven (Pan Macmillan), If I Survive You (HarperCollins) by Jonathan Escoffery, The Sleeping Car Porter (Dialogue) by Suzette Mayr, Solenoid (Deep Vellum Publishing) by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter, and finally Praiseworthy (And Other Stories) by Alexis Wright. 

The shortlist includes one novel translated from Romanian to English and features authors who are American, Canadian, Australian, Romanian and Irish.   

Now in its 29th year, this award is the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English, worth €100,000 (£86,000) to the winner and is sponsored by Dublin City Council. If the book has been translated the author receives €75,000 (£64,000) and the translator receives €25,000 (£21,000).  “Unique among literary prizes, nominations are chosen by librarians and readers from a network of libraries around the world,” organisers said. 

De Róiste said: “The titles on this year’s shortlist were nominated by public libraries in Romania, Germany, Jamaica, Canada and Australia. This award is notable for highlighting authors from around the world while simultaneously celebrating excellence in contemporary literature.  The 2024 winner will be chosen from this fascinating shortlist, which includes one novel in translation, and explores themes of race, discrimination, trauma, solitude and communism.”   

Dublin librarian Mairead Owens said: “It’s always a pleasure to see the carefully selected shortlist from a longlist of 70 books and as ever we are indebted to the judging panel for their contribution in this regard.” 

The international panel of judges features Daniel Medin, professor of comparative literature at the American University of Paris, writer, translator and teacher Ingunn Snædal, an Icelandic poet, author and translator Anton Hur along with Irenosen Okojie a Nigerian-British author and Lucy Collins, an associate professor at University College Dublin. The chairperson is professor Chris Morash, the Seamus Heaney professor of Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin. 

The panel will select one winner, which will be announced on 23rd May during the International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD) which runs from the 17th to the 26th May 2024 and is also funded by Dublin City Council.    

The novels nominated and shortlisted will be available for readers to borrow from Dublin City Libraries and from public libraries around Ireland, or can be borrowed as e-books and some as audiobooks on the free Borrowbox app. For more information, visit dublinliteraryaward.ie.