Sally Rooney, Emilie Pine, Emer McLysaght, and Sarah Breen, Lynn Ruane, and Liz Nugent were among the winning authors at the An Post Irish Book Awards held in Dublin last night.
Nugent won in two categories for her crime thriller Skin Deep, while Rooney, as expected, won the Eason Book Club Novel Of The Year for her second book, Normal People.
The Importance of Being Aisling, by McLysaght and Breen, was named Specsavers Popular Fiction Book of the Year.
The Ireland AM Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year was awarded to The Cow Book by John Connell.
Now in its 13th year, the awards ceremony took place in the Clayton Hotel and was attended by the country’s top writers, publishers, booksellers, and media personalities.
Renowned poet Thomas Kinsella was announced as the recipient of the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award, while a special award was presented to the family of author Emma Hannigan, who passed away earlier this year.
The ceremony was presented by Keelin Shanley, while each winning author was interviewed by RTÉ’s Evelyn O’ Rourke after they received their award.
Maria Dickenson, chairwoman of the An Post Irish Book Awards, said: “This is a really outstanding line-up of winners. It demonstrates the absolute breadth of quality writing we have in Ireland, right across the genre spectrum.
“It is also great to see so many female writers winning accolades this year.
“Many of them, including Emilie Pine, Sarah Webb, Lynne Ruane, Cora Staunton, and Sally Rooney, are all writing about what it means to be a modern woman in contemporary Ireland and it is striking that these authors used the art of writing to tell their stories in such a truthful and honest way.”
David McRedmond, chief executive of An Post, added: “The An Post Irish Book Awards are all about the quality of life, celebrating great writing and ideas.
“Congratulations to the fine winners, but the real value is across the whole shortlist. I salute all those who encourage new and established writers to persevere in their craft and creativity, enriching our lives and our understanding of each other.”
This year, more than 100,000 votes were cast by book lovers to select the winners in each category, a 96% increase on the number of votes cast last year.
From today, the public can vote for the overall ‘An Post Book of the Year’ here.
The winner will be announced in January.
Previous winners include John Crowley, Donál Ó Drisceoil, Mike Murphy, and John Borgonovo for Atlas of the Irish Revolution, Mike McCormack for Solar Bones, and Louise O’Neill for Asking for It.
