An Post Irish Book of the Year Award will be revealed for special TV show on
RTÉ One this Thursday night at 10.15pm.
The top eight contenders for the award are books from Sinéad Burke, Dara
McAnulty, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Graham Norton, Luke O’Neill, Donal Ryan,
Keelin Shanley and Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan. The Overall winner will be announced on television show presented by Miriam O’Callaghan on Thursday at 10.15pm on RTÉ One. www.irishbookawards.irish
The titles competing for the accolade are the category winners from the
recent An Post Irish Book Awards. The overall ‘An Post Irish Book of the
Year 2020’ winner was decided by a combination of an online public vote and
an academy vote weighted equally.
The top eight books with the highest votes and the authors of each of them will be interviewed in the RTÉ One show on Thursday evening.
They are, in alphabetical order:
* Break the Mould by Sinéad Burke illustrated by Natalie Byrne
* Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty
* A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa
* Home Stretch by Graham Norton
* Never Mind the B#ll*cks, Here’s the Science by Luke O’Neill
* Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan
* A Light That Never Goes Out by Keelin Shanley
* Champagne Football by Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan
The other six category winners that were in contention for the award were,
in alphabetical order:
* Old Ireland in Colour by John Breslin and Sarah-Anne Buckley
* Cnámh by Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde
* Neven Maguire’s Midweek Meals in Minutes by Neven Maguire
* The Great Irish Farm Book by Darragh McCullough, illustrated by
Sally Caulwell
* After the Silence by Louise O’Neill
* Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan, illustrated by Karen Vaughan
Previous winners of the esteemed An Post Irish Book of the Year award
include: Overcoming by Vicky Phelan, Notes to Self by Emilie Pine, Atlas of
the Irish Revolution by John Crowley, Donal Ó Drisceoil, Mike Murphy and Dr.
John Borgonovo, Solar Bones by Mike McCormack, Asking for it by Louise
O’Neill, Academy Street by Mary Costello, Staring at Lakes by Michael
Harding, The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan and Solace by Belinda McKeon. The
‘An Post Irish Book of the Year’ public vote is sponsored by National Book
Tokens.
International Recognition Award 2020
Lee Child, one of the world’s leading thriller writers, will also be
announced during the television programme on RTÉ One at 10.15pm this
Thursday as this year’s recipient of the International Recognition Award
from the 2020 An Post Irish Book Awards.
One of the most successful thriller writers of all time, Lee Child is best
known for the Jack Reacher series. He has sold over 100 million copies of
his books worldwide, with Jack Reacher adapted for film and played by Tom
Cruise. Lee is the recipient of many awards, most recently Author of the
Year at the 2019 British Book Awards. He was appointed CBE in the 2019
Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
In winning the International Recognition Award, Lee Child now joins a host
of other distinguished recipients including George RR Martin, David
Walliams, Bill Bryson, Jeffrey Archer and Jilly Cooper.
