Articles

The shortlist of the 2010 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award was announced by The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Emer Costello.

The shortlist of 8 titles was selected from a total of 156 novels nominated by 163 public library systems in 123 cities worldwide and includes Netherland by Irish author Joseph O’Neill. The International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award is the world’s most prestigious literary prize nominated by public libraries world-wide.

 The Lord Mayor of Dublin and Patron of the Award, Cllr. Emer Costello, officially confirmed the titles on this year’s shortlist, nominated by public libraries in Ireland, Austria, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Russia, The Netherlands, South Africa, Brazil, the USA and Canada.

More about the shortlist

Once again an Irish title has been shortlisted, proof, if it were needed, that Irish contemporary fiction can hold its own on the worldwide stage. John Banville, Sebastian Barry, Ronan Bennett, Michael Collins, Patrick McCabe, Colum McCann and John McGahern have all been shortlisted since 1996. Colm Toibín has been shortlisted twice, and was the winner in 2006 for The Master.

The short listed titles are:

The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Dutch) in translation. Harvill Secker The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Moroccan / French) in translation. Europa Editions, USA, Gallic Press, UK In Zodiac Light by Robert Edric (British) Doubleday, UK Settlement by Christoph Hein (German) in translation. Metropolitan Books The Believers by Zoë Heller (British). Fig Tree Netherland by Joseph O’Neill (Irish) Fourth Estate, HarperCollins, UK, Pantheon Books, USA God’s Own Country by Ross Raisin (British) Viking Home by Marilynne Robinson (American) Farrar, Straus & Giroux, USA, HarperCollins, Canada

 This year is the turn of the British, with three authors on the shortlist, Robert Edric, Zoë Heller and Ross Raisin.

Three of the shortlisted novels are in translation from the original Dutch (The Twin), French (The Elegance of the Hedgehog) and German (Settlement) Two of the shortlisted titles are first novels, The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker and God’s Own Country by Ross Raisin.

The 2010 shortlist is a real mix of books. Some of them are very well known and have already received awards, e.g. Marilynne Robinson received the Orange Prize for Home, Joseph O’Neill’s Netherland was long listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2008; two are first novels, and one, Settlement by Christoph Hein, published in the USA, has not previously been seen in the bookshops in Ireland and so will gain a new audience.