The 2024 John McGahern Annual Book Prize

The Institute of Irish Studies is delighted to announce that they are currently seeking submissions to The 2024 John McGahern Annual Book Prize, which was set up by The Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool, with the approval of John McGahern’s literary estate, in 2019. The prize of £5,000 will be awarded to the best debut work of fiction – either novel or collection of short stories – by an Irish writer, or writer resident in Ireland for more than 5 years, published in a given year.

This year’s prize will be for fiction published in 2024 and the prize is open to all genres of adult fiction. A condition of the prize is that the winner must be available to attend a reading and book signing as part of the Liverpool Literary Festival, due to be held in early October 2025. Travel costs (to the value of £150) and overnight accommodation will be covered for the winner. Should social distancing rules make a public event impracticable, a digital announcement, including a video to which the winner contributes, will be made instead.

The Institute of Irish Studies would be pleased to receive any novels or collections of short stories that you wish to put forward for the prize by Friday 6 December 2024. Please note that they ask for both a physical and a digital submission. All submissions should also be accompanied by a submission form which can be downloaded from https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/irish-studies/about/john-mcgahern-book-prize/ which contains further details.

Queries can be directed to fshovlin@liverpool.ac.uk.