International Dublin Literary Award

The International DUBLIN Literary Award (Irish: Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath) is an international literary award presented each year for a novel written in English or translated into English. It aims to promote excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by Dublin City Council, Ireland. At €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.^[1] The first award was made in 1996 to David Malouf for his English language novel Remembering Babylon.^[2]

Nominations are submitted by public libraries 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). The most recent winner of the award is José Eduardo Agualusa for A General Theory of Oblivion.^[3]

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.^[4] The scope for inclusion has been subject to criticism; according to The Irish Times journalist Eileen Battersby, "many of the titles are already well known even at the time of the publication of the long list."^[3]

Dublin City Public Libraries seek nominations from 400 public libraries from major cities across the world. Libraries can apply to be considered for inclusion in the nomination process.^[5] 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 was the non-voting chair of the panel from 1996 to 2003. As of 2004, the former Chief Judge of a US Court of Appeals, Eugene R. Sullivan, is the non-voting chair.^[6] The winner of the award is announced each June.^[4]

History

The award was established in 1994 as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a joint initiative of Dublin City Council and the American productivity company IMPAC, which had its European headquarters in Dublin.^[7] 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.^[7] In late 2013, the trust fund became exhausted and there was no money left to run the award.^[7] 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.^[7] It was reported that the council paid €100,000 for the prize plus €80,250 in administration costs in 2015.^[7] 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 and Tony Parsons up against Umberto Eco and Milan Kundera for a €100,000 prize?"^[8] As of 2017, the most recent winner is José Eduardo Agualusa whose Portuguese-language novel A General Theory of Oblivion was translated by Daniel Hahn.^[9]

Winners and shortlists

Year	Image	Winner	Language	Novel	Shortlisted[10]
1996		Malouf, DavidDavid Malouf[2]	English	Remembering Babylon	John Banville – Ghosts V. S. Naipaul – A Way in the World Cees Nooteboom – The Following Story Connie Palmen – The Laws José Saramago – The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Jane Urquhart – Away
1997		Marías, JavierJavier Marías[11]	Spanish	A Heart So White (translated by Margaret Jull Costa)	Sherman Alexie – Reservation Blues Rohinton Mistry – A Fine Balance Dương Thu Hương – Novel Without a Name Antonio Tabucchi – Pereira Maintains Lars Gustafsson – A Tiler's Afternoon A. J. Verdelle – The Good Negress Alan Warner – Morvern Callar
1998		Müller, HertaHerta Müller[12]	German	The Land of Green Plums (translated by Michael Hofmann)	Margaret Atwood – Alias Grace André Brink – Imaginings of Sand David Dabydeen – The Counting House David Foster – The Glade Within the Grove Jamaica Kincaid – Autobiography of my Mother Earl Lovelace – Salt Lawrence Norfolk – The Pope's Rhinoceros Graham Swift – Last Orders Guy Vanderhaeghe – The Englishman's Boy
1999	–	Miller, AndrewAndrew Miller[13]	English	Ingenious Pain	Jim Crace – Quarantine Don DeLillo – Underworld Francisco Goldman – The Ordinary Seaman Ian McEwan – Enduring Love Haruki Murakami – The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Cynthia Ozick – The Puttermesser Papers Bernhard Schlink – The Reader
2000	–	Barker, NicolaNicola Barker[12]	English	Wide Open	Michael Cunningham – The Hours Jackie Kay – Trumpet Colum McCann – This Side of Brightness Alice McDermott – Charming Billy Toni Morrison – Paradise Philip Roth – I Married a Communist
2001		MacLeod, AlistairAlistair MacLeod[14]	English	No Great Mischief	Margaret Cezair-Thompson – The True History of Paradise Silvia Molina – The Love You Promised Me Andrew O'Hagan – Our Fathers Victor Pelevin – Buddha's Little Finger Colm Tóibín – The Blackwater Lightship
2002		Houellebecq, MichelMichel Houellebecq[15]	French	Atomised (translated by Frank Wynne)	Peter Carey – True History of the Kelly Gang Margaret Atwood – The Blind Assassin Michael Collins – The Keepers of Truth Helen DeWitt – The Last Samurai Carlos Fuentes – The Years with Laura Diaz Antoni Libera – Madame
2003		Pamuk, OrhanOrhan Pamuk[3]	Turkish	My Name Is Red (translated by Erdağ Göknar)	Dennis Bock – The Ash Garden Achmat Dangor – Bitter Fruit Per Olov Enquist – The Visit of the Royal Physician Jonathan Franzen – The Corrections Lídia Jorge – The Migrant Painter of Birds John McGahern – That They May Face the Rising Sun Ann Patchett – Bel Canto
2004		Ben Jelloun, TaharTahar Ben Jelloun[16]	French	This Blinding Absence of Light (translated by Linda Coverdale)	Paul Auster – The Book of Illusions William Boyd – Any Human Heart Sandra Cisneros – Caramelo Jeffrey Eugenides – Middlesex Maggie Gee – The White Family Amin Maalouf – Balthasar's Odyssey (translated from French by Barbara Bray) Rohinton Mistry – Family Matters Atiq Rahimi – Earth and Ashes (translated from Persian by Erdağ Göknar) Olga Tokarczuk – House of Day, House of Night (translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones)
2005	–	Jones, Edward P.Edward P. Jones[17]	English	The Known World	Diane Awerbuck – Gardening at Night Lars Saabye Christensen – The Half Brother (translated from Norwegian by Kenneth Steven) Damon Galgut – The Good Doctor Douglas Glover – Elle Arnon Grunberg – Phantom Pain (translated from Dutch by Sam Garrett) Shirley Hazzard – The Great Fire Christoph Hein – Willenbrock (translated from German by Philip Boehm) Frances Itani – Deafening Jonathan Lethem – The Fortress of Solitude
2006		Tóibín, ColmColm Tóibín[18]	English	The Master	Chris Abani – GraceLand Nadeem Aslam – Maps for Lost Lovers Ronan Bennett – Havoc in Its Third Year Jonathan Coe – The Closed Circle Jens Christian Grøndahl – An Altered Light (translated from Danish by Anne Born) Vyvyane Loh – Breaking the Tongue Margaret Mazzantini – Don't Move (translated from Italian by John Cullen) Yasmina Khadra – The Swallows of Kabul (translated from French by John Cullen) Thomas Wharton – The Logogryph
2007		Petterson, PerPer Petterson[19]	Norwegian	Out Stealing Horses (translated by Anne Born)	Julian Barnes – Arthur & George Sebastian Barry – A Long Long Way J. M. Coetzee – Slow Man Jonathan Safran Foer – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Peter Hobbs – The Short Day Dying Cormac McCarthy – No Country for Old Men Salman Rushdie – Shalimar the Clown
2008		Hage, RawiRawi Hage[13]	English	De Niro's Game	Javier Cercas – The Speed of Light (translated from Spanish by Anne McLean) Yasmine Gooneratne – The Sweet & Simple Kind Gail Jones – Dreams of Speaking Sayed Kashua – Let It Be Morning (translated from Hebrew by Miriam Shlesinger) Yasmina Khadra – The Attack (translated from French by John Cullen) Patrick McCabe – Winterwood Andreï Makine – The Woman Who Waited (translated from French by Geoffrey Strachan)
2009	–	Thomas, MichaelMichael Thomas[13]	English	Man Gone Down	Junot Díaz – The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Jean Echenoz – Ravel (translated from French by Linda Coverdale) Mohsin Hamid – The Reluctant Fundamentalist Travis Holland – The Archivist's Stor] Roy Jacobsen – The Burnt-Out Town of Miracles (translated from Norwegian by Don Shaw and Don Bartlett) David Leavitt – The Indian Clerk Indra Sinha – Animal's People
2010		Bakker, GerbrandGerbrand Bakker[20]	Dutch	The Twin (translated by David Colmer)	Muriel Barbery – The Elegance of the Hedgehog (translated from French by Alison Anderson) Robert Edric – In Zodiac Light Christoph Hein – Settlement (translated from German by Philip Boehm) Zoë Heller – The Believers Joseph O'Neill – Netherland Ross Raisin – God's Own Country Marilynne Robinson – Home
2011		McCann, ColumColum McCann[21]	English	Let the Great World Spin	Michael Crummey – Galore Barbara Kingsolver – The Lacuna Yiyun Li – The Vagrants David Malouf – Ransom Joyce Carol Oates – Little Bird of Heaven Craig Silvey – Jasper Jones Colm Tóibín – Brooklyn William Trevor – Love and Summer Evie Wyld – After the Fire, A Still Small Voice
2012	–	McGregor, JonJon McGregor[22]	English	Even the Dogs	Jon Bauer – Rocks in the Belly David Bergen – The Matter with Morris Jennifer Egan – A Visit from the Goon Squad Aminatta Forna – The Memory of Love Karl Marlantes – Matterhorn Tim Pears – Landed Yishai Sarid – Limassol Cristóvão Tezza – The Eternal Son Willy Vlautin – Lean on Pete
2013	–	Barry, KevinKevin Barry[23]	English	City of Bohane	Michel Houellebecq – The Map and the Territory Andrew Miller – Pure Haruki Murakami – 1Q84 Julie Otsuka – The Buddha in the Attic Arthur Phillips – The Tragedy of Arthur Karen Russell – Swamplandia! Sjón – From the Mouth of the Whale Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold – The Faster I Walk , The Smaller I Am Tommy Wieringa – Caesarion (translated from Dutch by Sam Garrett)
2014		Vásquez, Juan GabrielJuan Gabriel Vásquez[24]	Spanish	The Sound of Things Falling (translated by Anne McLean)	Gerbrand Bakker – The Detour (translated from Dutch by David Colmer) Michelle de Kretser – Questions of Travel Patrick Flanery – Absolution Karl Ove Knausgård – A Death In The Family (translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett) (My Struggle – First Book) Marie NDiaye – Three Strong Women (translated from French by John Fletcher) Andrés Neuman – Traveller of the Century (translated from Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia) Tan Twan Eng – The Garden of Evening Mists
2015		Crace, JimJim Crace[25]	English	Harvest	Richard Flanagan – The Narrow Road to the Deep North Hannah Kent – Burial Rites Bernardo Kucinski – K (translated from Portuguese by Sue Branford) Andreï Makine – Brief Loves That Live Forever (translated from French by Geoffrey Strachan) Colum McCann – TransAtlantic Mahi Binebine – Horses of God (translated from French by Lulu Norman) Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Americanah Alice McDermott – Someone Roxana Robinson – Sparta
2016	–	Sharma, AkhilAkhil Sharma[12][26]	English	Family Life	Javier Cercas – Outlaws (Translated from Spanish by Anne McLean) Mary Costello – Academy Street Dave Eggers – Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? Jenny Erpenbeck – The End of Days (Translated from German by Susan Bernofsky) Marlon James – A Brief History of Seven Killings Michel Laub – Diary of the Fall (Translated from Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa) Scholastique Mukasonga – Our Lady of the Nile (Translated from French by Melanie Mauthner) Jenny Offill – Dept. of Speculation Marilynne Robinson – Lila
2017		Agualusa, José EduardoJosé Eduardo Agualusa[9]	Portuguese	A General Theory of Oblivion (translated by Daniel Hahn)	Mia Couto – Confession of the Lioness (Translated from Portuguese by David Brookshaw) Anne Enright – The Green Road Kim Leine – The Prophets of Eternal Fjord (Translated from Danish by Martin Aitken) Valeria Luiselli – The Story of My Teeth (Translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney) Viet Thanh Nguyen - The Sympathizer Chinelo Okparanta – Under the Udala Trees Orhan Pamuk – A Strangeness in My Mind (Translated from Turkish by Ekin Oklap) Robert Seethaler – A Whole Life (Translated from German by Charlotte Collins) Hanya Yanagihara – A Little Life

• – debut novel

Wins by language

References

External links

• Official website