Niall Williams wins the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for Time of the Child (Bloomsbury)
Niall Williams has won the 2025 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for his novel Time of the Child (Bloomsbury).
Carol Drinkwater and Paul McVeigh reviewed over 50 submitted novels before selecting the winner from a powerful shortlist that included Christine Dwyer Hickey, Joseph O’Connor, Colm Tóibín, and Donal Ryan.
The winner was announced at the opening night of the Listowel Literary Festival, a major celebration of literature that runs until 01 June and features events with acclaimed writers, panels, workshops, and performances across Listowel. Now in its 31st year, the award celebrates outstanding Irish fiction with a prize of €20,000.
Catherine Keogh, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Kerry Group, which sponsors the prize, praised the continued partnership with Listowel Writers’ Week. ‘Every year, the calibre of writing reminds us why Ireland continues to lead on the global literary stage. We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Niall Williams on this well-deserved recognition.’
I don’t remember the last time I read a book that made me stop—so frequently—unable to continue until I had savoured a sentence
Paul McVeigh said that judging the prize was no small task. ‘The quality of the entries was superb, a testament to an extraordinary time in Irish literature. Any of the shortlisted books could have won but, in the end, Time of the Child by Niall Williams rose to the top. I don’t remember the last time I read a book that made me stop so frequently, unable to continue until I had savoured a sentence. He is an extraordinary writer and a worthy winner of the Irish Novel of the Year.’
Carol Drinkwater, who was judging the prize for the third time, said that Niall Williams’ writing was exquisite. ‘Reading his sentences was like sitting in a magnificent cathedral and listening to a great soprano singing, notes reaching to the rafters and returning to me, to nestle in my heart. It is a novel full of compassion. The characters are so vulnerable, they tear you apart. It has been several weeks since we chose Niall’s novel as our winner. Still, I sit at my desk and picture myself in that doctor’s surgery. I hear the child crying; I can smell the newly washed nappies; I long for these people, that father and daughter, to be given the miracle they so crave.’
