The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by Dublin City Council, Ireland. At
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...
100,000, the award is one of the
richest literary prizes in the world. If the winning book is a translation (as it has been nine times), the prize is divided between the writer and the translator, with the writer receiving €75,000 and the translator €25,000. The first award was made in 1996 to
David Malouf
David George Joseph Malouf AO (; born 20 March 1934) is an Australian poet, novelist, short story writer, playwright and librettist. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2008, Malouf has lectured at both the University of Quee ...
for his English-language novel ''
Remembering Babylon
''Remembering Babylon'' is a book by David Malouf, published in 1993. It won the inaugural International Dublin Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the Miles Franklin Award.
The novel covers themes of isolation, language ...
''.
Nominations are submitted by
public libraries
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
There are five fundamenta ...
worldwide – over 400 library systems in 177 countries worldwide are invited to nominate books each year – from which the shortlist and the eventual winner are selected by an international panel of judges (which changes each year).
Eligibility and procedure
The prize is open to novels written in any language and by authors of any nationality, provided the work has been published in English or English translation. The presentation of the award is post-dated by two years from the date of publication. Thus, to win an award in 2017, the work must have been published in 2015. If it is an English translation, the work must have been published in its original language between two and six years before its translation.
The scope for inclusion has been subject to criticism; according to ''
The Irish Times
''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...
'' journalist
Eileen Battersby
Eileen Battersby ( Whiston; 4 June 1956 – 23 December 2018) was the chief literary critic of ''The Irish Times''. She sometimes divided opinion, having been described by John Banville as "the finest fiction critic we have", while attractin ...
, "many of the titles are already well known even at the time of the publication of the long list."
Dublin City Public Libraries seek nominations from 400
public libraries
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
There are five fundamenta ...
from major cities across the world. Libraries can apply to be considered for inclusion in the nomination process. The longlist is announced in October or November of each year, and the shortlist (up to 10 titles) is announced in March or April of the following year. The longlist and shortlist are chosen by an international panel of judges which rotates each year.
Allen Weinstein
Allen Weinstein (September 1, 1937 – June 18, 2015) was an American historian, educator, and federal official who served in several different offices. He was, under the Reagan administration, cofounder of the National Endowment for Democracy in ...
was the non-voting chair of the panel from 1996 to 2003. As of 2017, the former Chief Judge of a US Court of Appeals,
Eugene R. Sullivan
Eugene Raymond Sullivan (born August 2, 1941) is an American lawyer who serves as a Senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush named him the chief judge. When not recalled to a ...
, is the non-voting chair. The winner of the award is announced each June.
History
The award was established in 1994 as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a joint initiative of
Dublin City Council
Dublin City Council ( ga, Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the authority responsible for local government in the city of Dublin in Ireland. As a city council, it is governed by the Local Government Act 2001. Until 2001, the council wa ...
and the American productivity company IMPAC, which had its European headquarters in Dublin.
[ James Irwin, president of IMPAC, established the prize money at €100,000. A trust fund was established to pay for the award and its maintenance. The award has been administered by Dublin City Public Libraries since its inception. IMPAC went defunct in the late-2000s when its founder and president James Irwin died in 2009.][ In late 2013, the trust fund became exhausted and there was no money left to run the award.][ The council agreed to step in and continue funding the award under the same brand name of the now-defunct company while seeking a new sponsor.] It was reported that the council paid €100,000 for the prize plus €80,250 in administration costs in 2015.[ The award was subsequently renamed the International DUBLIN Literary Award in November 2015.
Describing the award as "the most eclectic and unpredictable of the literary world's annual gongs", the journalist Michelle Pauli posed the question in relation to the longlist for the 2004 edition: "Where would you find ]Michael Dobbs
Michael John Dobbs, Baron Dobbs (born 14 November 1948) is a British Conservative politician and author, best known for his ''House of Cards'' trilogy.
Early life and education
Michael Dobbs was born on 14 November 1948 in Cheshunt, Hertfordsh ...
and Tony Parsons up against Umberto Eco
Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...
and Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera (, ; born 1 April 1929) is a Czech writer who went into exile in France in 1975, becoming a naturalised French citizen in 1981. Kundera's Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, then conferred again in 2019. He "sees himself ...
for a €100,000 prize?"
Winners and shortlists
* – debut novel
Wins by language
References
External links
*
{{featured list
Culture in Dublin (city)
Municipal awards
Awards established in 1996
English-language literary awards
Fiction awards
International literary awards
Irish literary awards