Ellen O'Donoghue
Seven Irish authors have been announced on the longlist for the Dublin Literary Award, which boasts a €100,000 prize.
The 71-book-long list consists of works nominated by libraries in 34 countries.
Titles by Irish authors up for the 2025 award are Wild Houses by Colin Barrett, Water by John Boyne, Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson, Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, Seaborne by Nuala O'Connor, Christ on a Bike by Orla Owen, and Long Island by Colm Tóibín.
The prize is sponsored by Dublin City Council.
The longlist features fiction choices from Africa, Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, South America, Australia, and New Zealand, reflecting diversity of language and form, and contains 16 debut novels.
If the winning book has been translated, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.
26 of the books are translated into English and include translations from Korean, Farsi, Icelandic and Slovenian.
The shortlist is to be announced on March 25th, with the winner announced by Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain on May 22nd as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin.
Speaking at the launch of the longlist, Ms Blain said that she is "delighted to see that this year's longlist continues to reflect the breadth of imagination we associate with the award showcasing cultures, traditions and unique perspectives.
The international panel of judges features Gerbrand Bakker, Dutch author and winner of the Dublin Literary Award in 2010; Martina Devlin, award winning Irish author and newspaper columnist; Fiona Sze-Lorrain, writer, poet, translator, musician and editor based in Paris; Leonard Cassuto, professor of American literature at Fordham University, freelance literary journalist, columnist, editor and author; and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, poet, pacifist and editor based in Dublin.
The non-voting Chairperson of the judging panel is Professor Chris Morash, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin.
“A special commitment is required to judge the Dublin Literary Award with its eclectic range of books nominated from libraries across the world. I commend the dedication and expertise of this year’s judging panel," commented Dublin City Librarian, Mairead Owens.