| International Dublin Literary Award | |
| Reward: | €100,000 |
| Awarded For: | a novel written in or translated into English |
| Presenter: | Dublin City Public Libraries and Archive |
| Location: | Dublin, Ireland |
| Year: | 1996 |
| Former Name: | International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award |
| Most Awards: | 2 – Frank Wynne (translator) in 2002 and 2022 |
| Most Nominations: | 4 – Colum McCann (author) 3 – Anne McLean (translator) |
The International Dublin Literary Award (Irish: Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by Dublin City Council, Ireland. At €100,000, the award is one of the richest literary prizes in the world. If the winning book is a translation (as it has been nine times), the prize is divided between the writer and the translator, with the writer receiving €75,000 and the translator €25,000.[1] The first award was made in 1996 to David Malouf for his English-language novel Remembering Babylon.[2]
Nominations are submitted by public libraries worldwide – over 400 library systems in 177 countries worldwide are invited to nominate books each year – from which the shortlist and the eventual winner are selected by an international panel of judges (which changes each year).
The prize is open to novels written in any language and by authors of any nationality, provided the work has been published in English or English translation. The presentation of the award is post-dated by two years from the date of publication. Thus, to win an award in 2017, the work must have been published in 2015. If it is an English translation, the work must have been published in its original language between two and six years before its translation.[3] The scope for inclusion has been subject to criticism; according to The Irish Times journalist Eileen Battersby, "many of the titles are already well known even at the time of the publication of the long list."[4]
Dublin City Public Libraries seek nominations from 400 public libraries from major cities across the world. Libraries can apply to be considered for inclusion in the nomination process.[5] The longlist is announced in October or November of each year, and the shortlist (up to 10 titles) is announced in March or April of the following year. The longlist and shortlist are chosen by an international panel of judges which rotates each year. Allen Weinstein was the non-voting chair of the panel from 1996 to 2003. As of 2017, the former Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals, Eugene R. Sullivan, is the non-voting chair.[6] The winner of the award is announced each June.
The award was established in 1994 as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, a joint initiative of Dublin City Council and the American productivity company IMPAC, which had its European headquarters in Dublin. James Irwin, president of IMPAC, established the prize money at €100,000. A trust fund was established to pay for the award and its maintenance. The award has been administered by Dublin City Public Libraries since its inception. IMPAC went defunct in the late-2000s when its founder and president James Irwin died in 2009. In late 2013, the trust fund became exhausted and there was no money left to run the award. The council agreed to step in and continue funding the award under the same brand name of the now-defunct company while seeking a new sponsor.[7] It was reported that the council paid €100,000 for the prize plus €80,250 in administration costs in 2015.[7] The award was subsequently renamed the International DUBLIN Literary Award in November 2015.
Describing the award as "the most eclectic and unpredictable of the literary world's annual gongs", the journalist Michelle Pauli posed the question in relation to the longlist for the 2004 edition: "Where would you find Michael Dobbs and Tony Parsons up against Umberto Eco and Milan Kundera for a €100,000 prize?"[8]
| 1996 | Remembering Babylon | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortlist | ||||
| Ghosts | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Dutch by Ina Rilke) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Portuguese by Giovanni Pontiero) | Shortlist | |||
| Away | Shortlist | |||
| 1997 | (translated from Spanish by Margaret Jull Costa) | Winner | [9] | |
| Reservation Blues | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Swedish by Tom Geddes) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Vietnamese by Phan Huy Duong and Nina McPherson) | Novel Without a Name | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Italian by Patrick Creagh) | Pereira Maintains | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Morvern Callar | Shortlist | |||
| 1998 | (translated from German by Michael Hofmann) | Winner | [10] | |
| Alias Grace | Shortlist | [11] | ||
| Imaginings of Sand | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Autobiography of my Mother | Shortlist | |||
| Salt | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Last Orders | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| 1999 | Ingenious Pain | Winner | [12] | |
| Quarantine | Shortlist | |||
| Underworld | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Enduring Love | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Japanese by Jay Rubin) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from German by Carol Brown Janeway) | Shortlist |
| 2000 | Wide Open | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortlist | ||||
| Trumpet | Shortlist | |||
| This Side of Brightness | Shortlist | |||
| Charming Billy | Shortlist | |||
| Paradise | Shortlist | |||
| I Married a Communist | Shortlist | |||
| 2001 | No Great Mischief | Winner | [13] [14] | |
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Spanish by David Unger) | Shortlist | |||
| Our Fathers | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Russian by Andrew Bromfield) | Buddha's Little Finger | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| 2002 | (translated from French by Frank Wynne) | Atomised | Winner | [15] |
| Shortlist | ||||
| True History of the Kelly Gang | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Spanish by Alfred MacAdam) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Polish by Agnieszka Kolakowska) | Madame | Shortlist | ||
| 2003 | (translated from Turkish by Erdağ Göknar) | My Name Is Red | Winner | |
| Shortlist | ||||
| Bitter Fruit | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Swedish by Tiina Nunnally) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa) | Shortlist | |||
| That They May Face the Rising Sun | Shortlist | |||
| Bel Canto | Shortlist | |||
| 2004 | (translated from French by Linda Coverdale) | This Blinding Absence of Light | Winner | [16] [17] |
| Shortlist | ||||
| Any Human Heart | Shortlist | |||
| Caramelo | Shortlist | |||
| Middlesex | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from French by Barbara Bray) | Balthasar's Odyssey | Shortlist | ||
| Family Matters | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Persian by Erdağ Göknar) | Earth and Ashes | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones) | House of Day, House of Night | Shortlist | ||
| 2005 | Winner | [18] [19] | ||
| Gardening at Night | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Norwegian by Kenneth Steven) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Elle | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Dutch by Sam Garrett) | Phantom Pain | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from German by Philip Boehm) | Willenbrock | Shortlist | ||
| Deafening | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| 2006 | Winner | [20] | ||
| GraceLand | Shortlist | |||
| Maps for Lost Lovers | Shortlist | |||
| Havoc in Its Third Year | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Danish by Anne Born) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from French by John Cullen) | Shortlist | [21] | ||
| Breaking the Tongue | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Italian by John Cullen) | Don't Move | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| 2007 | (translated from Norwegian by Anne Born) | Out Stealing Horses | Winner | [22] [23] |
| Arthur & George | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Slow Man | Shortlist | |||
| Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| No Country for Old Men | Shortlist | |||
| Shalimar the Clown | Shortlist | |||
| 2008 | De Niro's Game | Winner | [24] | |
| (translated from Spanish by Anne McLean) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Dreams of Speaking | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Hebrew by Miriam Shlesinger) | Let It Be Morning | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from French by John Cullen) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from French by Geoffrey Strachan) | Shortlist | |||
| Winterwood | Shortlist | |||
| 2009 | Man Gone Down | Winner | [25] | |
| Shortlist | [26] | |||
| (translated from French by Linda Coverdale) | Ravel | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Norwegian by Don Shaw and Don Bartlett) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Animal's People | Shortlist |
| 2010 | (translated from Dutch by David Colmer) | Winner | [27] [28] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (translated from French by Alison Anderson) | Shortlist | |||
| In Zodiac Light | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from German by Philip Boehm) | Settlement | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Netherland | Shortlist | |||
| God's Own Country | Shortlist | |||
| Home | Shortlist | |||
| 2011 | Let the Great World Spin | Winner | [29] | |
| Galore | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Ransom | Shortlist | |||
| Little Bird of Heaven | Shortlist | |||
| Jasper Jones | Shortlist | |||
| Brooklyn | Shortlist | |||
| Love and Summer | Shortlist | |||
| After the Fire, A Still Small Voice | Shortlist | |||
| 2012 | Even the Dogs | Winner | [30] [31] | |
| Rocks in the Belly | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Matterhorn | Shortlist | |||
| Landed | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Hebrew by Barbara Harshav) | Limassol | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from Portuguese by Alison Entrekin) | Shortlist | |||
| Lean on Pete | Shortlist | |||
| 2013 | City of Bohane | Winner | [32] [33] | |
| (translated from French by Gavin Bowd) | Shortlist | |||
| Pure | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Japanese by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel) | 1Q84 | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Swamplandia! | Shortlist | |||
| Sjón (translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb) | From the Mouth of the Whale | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from Norwegian by Kerri Pierce) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Dutch by Sam Garrett) | Caesarion | Shortlist | [34] | |
| 2014 | (translated from Spanish by Anne McLean) | Winner | [35] [36] | |
| (translated from Dutch by David Colmer) | Shortlist | |||
| Questions of Travel | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Absolution | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from French by John Fletcher) | Three Strong Women | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from Spanish by Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia) | Traveller of the Century | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| 2015 | Harvest | Winner | [37] [38] | |
| Americanah | Shortlist | [39] | ||
| (translated from French by Lulu Norman) | Horses of God | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Burial Rites | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Portuguese by Sue Branford) | K | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from French by Geoffrey Strachan) | Brief Loves That Live Forever | Shortlist | ||
| TransAtlantic | Shortlist | |||
| Someone | Shortlist | |||
| Sparta | Shortlist | |||
| 2016 | Family Life | Winner | [40] [41] | |
| (translated from Spanish by Anne McLean) | Outlaws | Shortlist | [42] | |
| Academy Street | Shortlist | |||
| Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from German by Susan Bernofsky) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa) | Diary of the Fall | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from French by Melanie Mauthner) | Our Lady of the Nile | Shortlist | ||
| Dept. of Speculation | Shortlist | |||
| Lila | Shortlist | |||
| 2017 | (translated from Portuguese by Daniel Hahn) | Winner | [43] [44] | |
| (translated from Portuguese by David Brookshaw) | Confession of the Lioness | Shortlist | [45] | |
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Danish by Martin Aitken) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Spanish by Christina MacSweeney) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Under the Udala Trees | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Turkish by Ekin Oklap) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from German by Charlotte Collins) | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| 2018 | Solar Bones | Winner | [46] [47] | |
| (translated from German by Tim Mohr) | Baba Dunja's Last Love | Shortlist | [48] | |
| (translated from Spanish by Lisa Dillman) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Norwegian by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw) | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Korean by Deborah Smith) | Human Acts | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from Italian by Richard Dixon) | Distant Light | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from French by Jordan Stump) | Ladivine | Shortlist | ||
| The Woman Next Door | Shortlist | [49] | ||
| My Name Is Lucy Barton | Shortlist | |||
| 2019 | Idaho | Winner | [50] [51] | |
| (translated from French by Charlotte Mandell) | Compass | Shortlist | [52] | |
| History of Wolves | Shortlist | |||
| Exit West | Shortlist | |||
| Midwinter Break | Shortlist | |||
| Reservoir 13 | Shortlist | |||
| Conversations with Friends | Shortlist | |||
| Lincoln in the Bardo | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Home Fire | Shortlist |
| 2020 | Milkman | Winner | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shortlist | [53] | |||
| (translated from French by Tina Kover) | Disoriental | Shortlist | ||
| Washington Black | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| (translated from French by Lorin Stein) | History of Violence | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| There There | Shortlist | |||
| All the Lives We Never Lived | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones) | Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead | Shortlist | ||
| 2021 | Lost Children Archive | Winner | [54] | |
| Girl, Woman, Other | Shortlist | [55] [56] | ||
| Apeirogon | Shortlist | |||
| (translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes) | Hurricane Season | Shortlist | ||
| On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous | Shortlist | |||
| Shortlist | ||||
| 2022 | (translated from French by Frank Wynne) | Winner | [57] | |
| Remote Sympathy | Shortlist | [58] [59] | ||
| (translated from French by Anna Moschovakis) | At Night All Blood is Black | Shortlist | ||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Shortlist | ||||
| Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies | Shortlist | |||
| 2023 | (translated from German by Jo Heinrich) | Marzahn, Mon Amour | Winner | [60] |
| Cloud Cuckoo Land | Shortlist | [61] | ||
| (translated from French by Sheila Fischman) | Em | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from Croatian by Mima Simic) | Love Novel | Shortlist | ||
| (translated from Spanish by Sophie Hughes) | Paradais | Shortlist | ||
| The Trees | Shortlist | |||
| 2024 | Mircea Cărtărescu (translated from Romanian by Sean Cotter) | Solenoid | Winner | [62] [63] |
| Sebastian Barry | Old God's Time | Shortlist | [64] | |
| Emma Donoghue | Haven | Shortlist | ||
| Jonathan Escoffery | If I Survive You | Shortlist | ||
| Suzette Mayr | The Sleeping Car Porter | Shortlist | ||
| Alexis Wright | Praiseworthy | Shortlist |
| Total | Language | Years | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | English | 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 | |
| 3 | French | 2002, 2004, 2022 | |
| 2 | Spanish | 1997, 2014 | |
| 2 | German | 1998, 2023 | |
| 1 | Turkish | 2003 | |
| 1 | Norwegian | 2007 | |
| 1 | Dutch | 2010 | |
| 1 | Portuguese | 2017 | |
| 1 | Romanian | 2024 |