IRISH AUTHOR CLAIRE Keegan’s novel Small Things Like This has been shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize.

Keegan is among six authors nominated for the award, alongside: 

• Alan Garner for Treacle Walker
• NoViolet Bulawayo for Glory
• Percival Everett for The Trees
• Shehan Karunatilaka for The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
• Elizabeth Strout for Oh William!

The judges noted that Keegan’s 116-page novel is the shortest ever recognised in the prize’s history – even though her fellow nominee Alan Garner’s book Treacle Walker has fewer words.

There are five different nationalities and four continents represented by the authors, and there is an equal split of men and women on the list. It also features the oldest author ever to be shortlisted, Alan Garner, who will celebrate his 88th birthday on the night of the awards ceremony.

Of Small Things Like These, which is published by Faber, the judges said it was: “A story of quiet bravery, set in an Irish community in denial of its central secret. Beautiful, clear, economic writing and an elegant structure dense with moral themes.”

The novel is a quiet, emotional read that uses one man’s story to tell the truth of a dark period of Irish history. It’s set in 1985 and the protagonist is Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant. As he prepares for the busy season ahead, he buts up against the power of the Catholic Church in a small community. 

Keegan has already won numerous awards for her work, and her novella Foster was recently turned into the acclaimed film An Cailín Ciúin. She has published two short story collections as well as Foster and Small Things Like These.