Kevin Barry wins Impac literary award
- Details
- 07 June 2013
Priz e-winning author Kevin adds to our great literary tradition
One of the things that Ireland can be justifiably proud of is its literary tradition. James Joyce and Samuel Beckett re-wrote the rules in the 20th Century, and Shaw, Wilde, O'Casey and Yeats are all towering names in the world of letters.
But the reputation isn't simply historic. Names like Seamus Heaney, Colm Toibin, Anne Enright, Colum McCann and Roddy Doyle are all heavyweights in contemporary fiction. And that's a very selective shortlist. We could go on and on.
Today, we can add another name to that prestigious roll call, following the announcement that Limerick man Kevin Barry has won this year's International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his debut novel 'City of Bohane'.
At €100,000, the prize is the world's most valuable annual literary award for a single work of fiction published in English.
Amazingly, this is his first novel, but the 44-year-old, who now lives in Sligo, is the author of two acclaimed books of short stories. Some of his stories have also appeared in prestigious magazines like 'The New Yorker'. Last year, one of his stories won the EFG Bank-Sunday Timesprize worth £30,000, the most valuable short story prize in the world.
Winning the IMPAC Award has now completed his success story. It is a major achievement, against competition from big names like Michel Houellebecq and Andrew Miller, both winners in previous years, who were also on the shortlist of 10 this year.
And what makes this prize stand out is that public libraries choose the winner, rather than academics or critics. The books on this year's shortlist were chosen from 154 novels nominated by book lenders around the world.
So congratulations, Kevin, and welcome to a very exclusive but ever expanding club of Irish literary greats.
Article taken from Independent.ie.