Shortlist Announced for the EU Prize for Literature 2019

Publishing Ireland > News > Shortlist Announced for the EU Prize for Literature 2019

The Irish Jury for the EU Prize for Literature (Sorcha De Brún, Ronan Colgan, Conor Kostick, Sinéad Mac Aodha and Nessa O’Mahony) are delighted to announce the shortlist for the Irish winner of the 2019 prize.

In alphabetical order:

Niamh Boyce, Her Kind, Penguin Books, 4 April 2019. The story of a witch trial in Kilkenny, 1324, Her Kind is far more than a work of historical fiction, it is as searing a critique of our own times as is Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
Jan Carson, The Fire Starters, Doubleday, 4 April 2019. A summer of discontent in east Belfast provides the suffocating context to an encounter between a lonely, withdrawn doctor and a siren, whose song is as irresistible as when her sisters sang to Odysseus.
Rosemary Jenkinson, Catholic Boy, Doire Press 2018. Fifteen wonderfully written short stories from contemporary Northern Ireland, that take the reader into lives filled with pathos, courage, loneliness, defiance… and sex.
Bernie McGill, The Watchhouse, Tinder Press Aug 2017. The clash of modernity and tradition on Rathlin island is movingly played out through an extraordinarily vivid set of characters, notably, Nuala, the resourceful, irreverent and intelligent heroine.

The prize is worth €5,000 to the author, plus incentives to encourage the
translation of the winning title into other European languages.
The winner will be announced 22 May 2019.

The European Union Prize for Literature is an annual initiative to recognise the best emerging authors in Europe.

Launched by the European Commission in 2009, the prize is open to countries participating in the Creative Europe programme for the cultural and creative sectors.

The EUPL is at present organised by a consortium consisting of the European Booksellers Federation, the European Writers’ Council and the Federation of European Publishers.

@EUPLPrize