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Winners of The An Post Irish Book Awards 2018 revealed

28 November 2018

- Sally Rooney, Liz Nugent, James Kavanagh & William Murray, Emilie Pine, Emer McLysaght & Sarah Breen, Cora Staunton, Sarah Webb, Lynn Ruane, Roger O’Reilly, Diarmuid Johnson and Peter Donnelly among the winners


- Exceptionally strong year for female writing with women authors dominating the winners list for first time ever
- Thomas Kinsella honoured with Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award, while family of the late Emma Hannigan accept a special award on her behalf

- -Voting now open for the ‘An Post Book of the Year’

Irish-book-awards27th December, 2019:  Sally Rooney, Emilie Pine, Emer McLysaght &Sarah Breen and Liz Nugent were just some of the winning authors named at the An Post Irish Book Awards held in Dublin this evening.
Now in its 13th year, the star-studded awards ceremony took place in Dublin’s Clayton Hotel, Burlington Road and was attended by Ireland’s top writers, publishers, booksellers and media personalities.
Renowned Irish 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. 
This year’s ceremony was presented by Keelin Shanley, while each winning author was interviewed by RTÉ’s Evelyn O’ Rourke after they received their award. Full highlights of the An Post Irish Book Awards will be broadcast on RTÉ One at 10.15pm this Thursday, 29th November.

 

The full list of winners for the An Post Irish Book Awards 2018

  • TheJournal.ie Best Irish Published Book of the Year Winner
  • Lighthouses of Ireland by Roger O’Reilly (Collins Press)
  • National Book Tokens Children’s Book of the Year (Junior) 
  • The President’s Cat by Peter Donnelly (Gill Books)
  • National Book Tokens Children’s Book of the Year (Senior)
  • Blazing a Trail by Sarah Webb and Lauren O’Neill (The O’Brien Press)
  • Dept 51@ Eason Teen / Young Adult Book of the Year 
  • The Weight of a Thousand Feathers by Brian Conaghan (Bloomsbury)
  • Eason Book Club Novel of the Year
  • Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber)
  • Specsavers Popular Fiction Book of the Year
  • The Importance of Being Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen (Gill Books)
  • Irish Independent Crime Fiction Book of the Year
  • Skin Deep by Liz Nugent (Penguin Ireland)
  • Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year
  • Notes to Self by Emilie Pine (Tramp Press)
  • Onside Non-Fiction Book of the Year
  • People Like Me by Lynn Ruane (Gill Books)
  • Ireland AM Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year 
  • The Cow Book by John Connell (Granta Books)
  • EUROSPAR Cookbook of the Year 
  • Currabinny Cookbook by James Kavanagh and William Murray (Penguin Ireland)
  • Bord Gáis Energy Sports Book of the Year
  • Game Changer by Cora Staunton with Mary White (PRH Transworld Ireland)
  • RTÉ Radio 1’s The Ryan Tubridy Show Listeners’ Choice Award
  • Skin Deep by Liz Nugent (Penguin Ireland)
  • Listowel Writers’ Week Irish Poem of the Year 
  • “Birthday” by Brian Kirk
  • Writing,ie Short Story of the Year 
  • “How to Build a Space Rocket” by Roisin O’Donnell (From The Broken Spiral ed by RM Clarke)
  • The Love Leabhar Gaeilge Irish Language Book of the Year
  • Tuatha De Denann by Diarmuid Johnson (Leabhar Breac)


Commenting on this year’s winners, Maria Dickenson, Chairperson 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, CEO at 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, over 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 tomorrow (28th November 2018), the public can vote for their overall ‘An Post Book of the Year’ by going to https://www.irishbookawards.irish/vote-for-the-book-of-the-year-win-national-book-tokens/. 
The winner will be announced in January and anyone who votes is in with the chance of winning €100 in National Book Tokens. Previous winners include John Crowley, Donál Ó Drisceoil, Mike Murphy and John Borgonovo for Atlas of the Irish Revolution, Mike Mc Cormack for Solar Bones, Louise O’ Neill for Asking for It, Mary Costello for Academy St, Donal Ryan for The Spinning Heart, Michael Harding for Staring at Lakes, and Belinda McKeon for Solace.

For further information, please log on to the An Post Irish Book Awards website 
www.irishbookawards.ie
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