Dublin IMPAC Literary Award 2012 Long List Announced

The Dublin IMPAC Literary Award long List was announced earlier today.

From the website of the award…

Three Irish novels are among 147 titles that have been nominated by libraries worldwide for the €100,000 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award, the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English. The 2012 Award was launched today, by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Andrew Montague, Patron of the Award, at a ceremony in The Dublin City Library & Archive. The Irish titles are:

Room by Emma Donoghue, nominated by libraries in Ireland, England, France, Maldives, Australia, New Zealand, the USA and Canada.

Faithful Place by Tana French, nominated by Lincoln City Library, USA.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray, nominated by libraries in Ireland and the USA

Complete Long List

Other novels nominated for the 2012 Award include A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, The Memory of Love by Animatta Forna, winner of the 2011 Commonwealth Writer’s Prize and Cool Water by Dianne Warren, winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction 2010.

The 147 eligible nominations come from 122 cities and 45 countries worldwide. 34 are titles in translation, spanning 18 languages and 31 are first novels. Among the 34 translated authors are; Isabel Allende, David Grossman, Daniel Kehlmann, Per Petterson and Bernhard Schlink.

Emma Donoghue’s Room received the greatest number of nominations from libraries worldwide for the 2012 award and with 20 nominations; Room is one of the most nominated titles, in the seventeen years since the Award began in 1996.

Expressing her delight that three Irish authors were selected by 23 libraries worldwide, Margaret Hayes, Dublin City Librarian, said that the Award is presented annually with the objective of promoting excellence in world literature. “The success of the three Irish authors in being nominated by so many libraries reinforces Dublin’s UNESCO City of Literature status and Emma Donoghue’s success in achieving 20 nominations from libraries worldwide, demonstrates once again, the international appeal of Irish writing.”

Lord Mayor, Andrew Montague urged Dubliners to borrow nominated novels from their local Dublin public library. “You will find books and authors, particularly those novels in translation that you might otherwise never come across and you can pick your own favourites, before I announce the winner on 13th June next year”, he said.

The 2012 Judging Panel comprises Irish author, Mike McCormack; Elizabeth Nunez, writer and academic from Trinidad & Tobago, based at Hunter College, New York; Tim Parks, British writer, translator and academic; Evelyn Schlag, Austrian poet and writer and Dubravka Ugresic, freelance writer based in Amsterdam. The Non-voting Chairperson is Eugene R. Sullivan.

The shortlist will be made public on 12th April 2012 and the Lord Mayor will announce the winner on 13th June.