Sebastian Barry and Emma Donoghue shortlisted for 2024 Dublin Literary Award

Irish writers Sebastian Barry and Emma Donoghue are among the authors whose novels have been shortlisted for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award.

There are six novels in all on the shortlist, including Barry's Old God's Time and Donoghue's Haven. Both books were widely acclaimed when the were originally published, with the former longlisted for the Booker Prize.

Barry has numerous awards to his credit, most notably for Days Without End, which won The Costa Book of the Year 2017, The Walter Scott Prize and The Independent Booksellers' Prize. It was also longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017.

Emma Dohoghue has also had a hugely distinguished career to date. Her biggest success thus far came with Room, which was named Novel of the Year in 2010 at the Irish Book Awards and won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (Canada and Caribbean) in 2011. The book was subsequently turned into an Academy Award-winning film. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, the feature starred Brie Larsson, who picked up an Oscar for Best Actress for her role.

Introducing the 2024 Shortlist! 🎉

✨Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
✨ Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu, translated by Sean Cotter
✨ Haven by Emma Donoghue
✨ If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery
✨ The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr
✨Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright pic.twitter.com/zjOitTTDJk

— Dublin Literary Award (@DublinLitAward) March 26, 2024

The other shortlisted titles for the 20244 Dublin Literary award include Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu and translated by Sean Cotter; If I Survive You by Jonathan Escoffery; The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr; and Praiseworthy by Alexis Wright.

The Dublin Literary Award is the largest award for a single novel published in English, with a winning prize of €100,000. If the winning book has been translated, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.

The award was last won by an Irish author in 2020, with Anna Burns claiming the prize for her novel Milkman. In 2023, the award went given to German author Katja Oskamp for Marzahn, Mon Amour, which was translated by Jo Heinrich.

The winner of the 2024 Dublin Literary Award will be announced on 23 May by the current Lord Mayor of Dublin, Daithí de Róiste, as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin.