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THE AN POST Irish Book Awards has today named its top 20 best new Irish fiction writers ahead of its awards in November.
The nominated authors work across a variety of fiction genres and all have had no more than two books published in the last decade.
Chairperson on the judging panel Maria Dickenson said the list presents 20 of the most promising names in Irish literature, adding that Irish writing is in “great hands” with the new generation of authors.
The list is published ahead of the An Post Irish Book Awards which will return on November 27 for its 19th year.
Without further adieu, here (in alphabetical order) is the list in full:
Aingeala Flannery
Aingeala Flannery is a writer and broadcaster. Her critically acclaimed debut novel The Amusements was published by Penguin Sandycove in 2022. She is also the current writer-in-residence at Dublin City University.
Alan Murrin
Alan Murrin is an Irish fiction writer based in Berlin. In 2021 he was the winner of the Bournemouth Writing Prize for his short story The Wake, which was later shortlisted for Short Story of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. He is a graduate of the prose fiction masters at the University of East Anglia and also writes for the Irish Times, Times Literary Supplement and Spectator.
Cathy Sweeney
Cathy Sweeney is a writer living in Ireland. Her short fiction has been published in the Stinging Fly, the Dublin Review, Egress, Winter Papers, Banshee and the Tangerine, and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4. Her debut short story collection, Modern Times, was published in 2020.
Catríona Lally
Caitríona Lally is the recipient of the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature (2018) and a Lannan Fellowship for Fiction (2019). In October 2021, she was announced as the inaugural Rooney Writer Fellow at Trinity Long Room Hub. Her first novel, Eggshells, was shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2015. Wunderland, her second novel, was published by New Island Books in 2021.
Claire Coughlan
Claire Coughlan worked as a journalist in Ireland for many years. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from UCD and lives in Co Kildare with her husband and daughter. Where They Lie is her debut novel.
Colin Walsh
Colin Walsh’s short stories have won several awards including the RTE Francis MacManus Short Story Prize and the Hennessy Literary Award. In 2019 he was named Hennessy New Irish Writer of the Year. Kala is his first novel and was a number one bestseller. He is from Galway and lives in Belgium.
Disha Bose
Disha Bose was born and raised in India, and has lived in Calcutta, London, and Dublin. She worked in the tech industry before joining the Masters in creative writing programme at University College Dublin. She now lives in Cork, Ireland. Dirty Laundry is her debut novel.
Ferdia Lennon
Ferdia Lennon was born in Dublin to an Irish mother and Libyan father. He holds a BA in History and Classics from University College Dublin and an MA in Prose Fiction from the University of East Anglia. In 2019 and 2021, he received a Literature Bursary Award from the Arts Council of Ireland. After spending many years in Paris, he now lives in Norwich with his wife and son.
Fíona Scarlett
Fíona Scarlett is from Dublin but now lives in Co. Kildare with her husband and two children. She holds an MLitt in creative writing from the University of Glasgow as well as a masters in early childhood education. She works full time as a primary school teacher and Boys Don’t Cry is her debut novel.
Louise Kennedy
Louise Kennedy grew up a few miles from Belfast. She is the author of the Women’s Prize Longlisted novel, Trespasses, and the acclaimed short story collection, The End of the World is a Cul de Sac, and is the only woman to have been shortlisted twice for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award (2019 and 2020). Before starting her writing career, she spent nearly thirty years working as a chef. She now lives in Sligo.
Louise Nealon
Louise Nealon studied English literature at Trinity College Dublin, and then completed a masters in creative writing at Queen’s University Belfast in 2016. She lives on her family farm in County Kildare. Snowflake is her first novel and was the biggest-selling debut in Ireland, winning Newcomer of the Year at the 2021 An Post Irish Book Awards.
Megan Nolan
Megan Nolan was born in Waterford, Ireland and is currently based in New York. For her debut novel, Acts of Desperation, Nolan was the recipient of a Betty Trask Award, shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award and longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Ordinary Human Failings was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction.
Michael Magee
Michael Magee is the fiction editor of the Tangerine and a graduate of the creative writing PhD programme at Queen’s University, Belfast. Close to Home is his first novel and won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2023.
Michelle Gallen
Michelle Gallen grew up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, a few miles from the border. She studied English Literature at Trinity College Dublin and Publishing at Stirling University. Her debut novel, Big Girl, Small Town was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. Her critically acclaimed second novel, Factory Girls, won the Comedy Women in Print award and was shortlisted for the RSL Encore Award. Both books are being adapted for TV.
Naoise Dolan
Naoise Dolan is an Irish writer born in Dublin. Her debut novel Exciting Times was a Sunday Times bestseller, widely translated, and optioned for TV. She won the 2021 Hawthornden Prize and has been shortlisted and longlisted for several other prizes. She now lives in Berlin.
Niamh Campbell
Niamh Campbell’s debut novel This Happy was nominated for the An Post Irish Book Awards, the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award, the John McGahern Book Prize and the Kate O’Brien Award. In 2020 she also won the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award for Love Many. In 2021, Campbell won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. She lives and works in Dublin.
Nicole Flattery
Nicole Flattery is the author of the story collection Show Them a Good Time. She is the winner of the An Post Irish Book Award, the Kate O’Brien Prize, the London Magazine Prize for Debut Fiction, and the White Review Short Story Prize. A graduate of the master’s program in creative writing at Trinity College, she lives in Dublin, Ireland.
Noel O’Regan
Noel O’Regan is from Tralee, Co. Kerry. A recipient of an Arts Council Next Generation Artist Award, his debut novel, Though the Bodies Fall (Granta Books, 2023), was shortlisted for the James Tait Black Prize for Fiction, the John McGahern Book Prize and Newcomer of the Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards.
Sheila Armstrong
Sheila Armstrong is a writer and editor from the north-west of Ireland. How to Gut a Fish, her first collection of short stories, was shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien Award and longlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. Falling Animals, her debut novel, was chosen for BBC2’s Between The Covers Book Club and shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize.
Una Mannion
Una Mannion is based in County Sligo Ireland. Her debut novel A Crooked Tree made the Irish bestsellers list, was shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards and the Dalkey Emerging Writer Award and won the Kate O’Brien Prize. Her second novel Tell Me What I Am was shortlisted for the Encore Awards and was the winner of the prestigious Gold Dagger at the CWA Dagger Awards. In September 2024, Una joins the Oscar Wilde Centre and English Department at Trinity College Dublin teaching creative writing.
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Much of the rise of the independents is based on frustration, frustration of people feeling they are not being listened too, that the few are making decisions for the many.
It’s been building for years, and now that people who express their frustration and or opinion are now being labelled as wrong or far right.
People in communities have a right to express their opinion or question policy, but those in power shut them down by labelling them as such.
@Mary Kelly: And that’s the problem! Unelected CEO’s of local councils are being handed power by the elected councillors, so people revert to the independent candidates but most people are unaware of the limited powers councils have. The consequences of that will be that the far right or left councillors can’t influence the real decisions like housing , health or climate change. The only advantage of the left or right, is that they enable FF/ FG to stay in power through fear of the other and both couldn’t be bothered to think things through and find solutions. As much as I dislike Wallace and Daly, at least they stood up for their beliefs unlike Carberry, what does she even stand for? or Kelliher. O’Sullivan, Herne and McHugh rejected in favour of puppets. The only upside is that the demise of the planet will rid us of an electorate and politicians, who put self interest above the planet
Immigration is a huge issue . Irish people do not have issues with people coming here to work. Nobody bats an eyelid at Australias strict immigration laws. Why are we been subjected to criminals , gangs of males only, lack of reporting of crimes being committed by illegal immigration, rough riding over communities, discussions around immigration being loaded ?
Our problem liies with those in politics who seem to be falling over themselves and each other to proclaim how great it is to be so diverse etc.. Diversity is not the problem… the way it’s been done is the problem. Thanks FFG
@barry lyons: would you care to share reliable sources for your claims of “criminals” (I guess you mean that only criminals are migrating to Ireland, correct?) and of “crimes committed by illegal immigration”?
@barry lyons: It might be a huge issue but it is way down the list of urgent issues. Climate, Wars, far right taking over Europe, China/ Russia and Capitalist profiteering are slightly more important.
Have you noticed that those countries in Europe where anti immigration policy is strongest are the very countries that raped and plundered and colonised the people’s of those countries who are now ‘ flooding ‘ Europe. So instead of holding European countries accountable, you are blaming the victims. Principles are supposed to be consistent!
Why don’t you Fight / Vote for harsher penalties for traffickers?? Or is it just easier to turn a blind eye. Thank God white people don’t commit crimes!!
@BarryH: You are trying to turn what I said into a racist issue . Why are you assuming I’m white. Your comment is disgusting . The illusion of far right is government speak against anyone who raises a question.
I assume it’s ok to ask questions or would you prefer if I rolled over
No such thing as an independent. Independents came from somewhere. At the end of the day your either right or left. Saying your independent is just a clever way of trying to disguise it. They’ll sell their vote to any party, ignore national interests in return for their local need for the high fives from the Betty’s in the parish halls. All they are good for is petrol pump politics.
@Dan The Man: independents use their leverage at crucial times to get their constituents a better deal. It normally works out for them. Its what gets them reelected year in year out, which is the whole point. It’s not fair but it works for their parish.
I have come to realise that over the recent years, SF has become very close to the west European socialist party, as they stand for the same.
This is why it’s over for them unless something big happen
@Dominic Leleu: Did you read the final results ? Sinn Fein vote up 21%. F.F and FG. Vote down !!!!
If Mary Lou can’t run an election she definitely cant run a country
@Sergio Reddan: Correct if I’m wrong, didn’t SF increased their councillors and double their MEPs? I’ll wait…
@Ian: You are of course correct in your statement. However if I was in Sinn Fein, I wouldn’t be celebrating a “doubling” of their MEPs to a grand total of 2, while losing their sitting MEP in what should be a SF stronghold. They did increase their representation at local level by a tiny amount but it was far from what anyone in the party would have hoped for.
@Sergio Reddan: But,she did and she got an increased vote of support !
The success (or lack of!) Verona Murphy’s ‘Not Independent Alliance’ speaks for itself…. puppets for a woman with her own agenda. She was the captain of the Titanic in the Wexford Election and they were her doomed passengers. And its not over yet, still lots of stories to break about the underhanded tactics that were used!
@Steve Davis: does it really matter who gets elected or who doesn’t, im not big into politics but all politicians are only out for one thing and that is to line their own pockets with a gteat wage and a great pension
Far right fascists will not replace us!
@Alan Kennedy: neither will far left fascists
@John D Doe: Fascists are right wing.
The 0.9% think they took all support away from “mass migration” FFG!!!!!
@9QRixo8H: AHH! the percentage man, you must be an accountant with all you fancy figures
People may just prepare for the housing crisis to worsen there is no denying that now. Building x amount cutting a ribbon with a scissors for a photo isn’t fixing it long term. But clowns think the problem is being fixed and are afraid of opposition when it has clear as day proven time and time again it is worsening at an accelerated rate. Sinn fein lost with they’re half assed policies if the other parties could get the finger out come together control immigration and just try get a handle on the housing it would stop far right slowly gaining ground. They may still gain a lot long term if situation continues with housing which is guaranteed with what’s in power.
@Paddy C: Definitely. My partners youngest brother told me out of his entire sixth year class from couple of years ago there is not a single one of them left in the country. Every single one of them emigrated the minute they finished college. All fed up and refusing to pay the high rents and work for the low starting wages and high tax. Rents could be high in other countries but you’ll get more services and better standard of accommodation. You won’t have to own a car and pay thr extortionate rates to keep and maintain it like here. You won’t be destroyed with tax if you want to work hard and will keep more of your money shockingly.
@Dan The Man: emigration of our young talent. I feel that’s what FG is silently encouraging/hoping to reduce the housing demand while marginally (if at all) raising supply.
And when there’s no choice, you can hardly blame them for emigrating.
have your say