Seven Irish authors have been longlisted for the 2016 Dublin Literary Award, the most valuable prize for a single work of fiction published in English.
The homegrown talents take their place on a mammoth list of 160, which includes works by 44 American, 25 British, 10 Canadian, 10 Australian, 6 German and 3 South African authors.
The Irish nominees are: The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry; Academy Street by Mary Costello; The Undertaking by Audrey Magee; Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent; The Thrill of it All by Joseph O’Connor; Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín; and The Diary of Mary Travers by Eibhear Walshe.
There will be immensely tough competition, though, as the longlist also contains some of the year's most celebrated works, including the winner of the Man Booker Prize Marlon James (pictured), who sees the Bob Marley inspired A Brief History of Seven Killings nominated. Other big hitters include All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, winner of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, this year’s Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction winner, How To Be Both by Ali Smith, The Back of the Turtle, which saw Thomas King claim the 2014 Governor General’s Award for Fiction, and Neel Mukherjee’s much-lauded The Lives of Others
There's also nods for J.K. Rowling - writing under her pseudonym Robert Galbraith - and David Mitchell.
Two of the longlisted authors have won the prize previously; Norway's Per Petterson won in 2007, while our own Colm Toibin claimed the award the year before.
The award - previously known as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - is managed by Dublin City Council's library service, and has become a well-respected prize the world over.
Speaking of the global interest in the Award, Margaret Hayes, City Librarian remarked “reading groups worldwide each year anticipate the longlist and later the shortlist with excitement and interest. This anticipation will reach fever pitch when The Lord Mayor announces the twenty-first winner on 9th June 2016. From previous experience we know that the 21st winning title will be top of the library readers list for 2016 at home and abroad bringing readers together in an unparalleled international book club”.
The 2016 Judging Panel comprises Irish writer Carlo Gébler; Ian Sansom, British novelist, critic and academic; Iglika Vassileva, Bulgarian translator; Australian novelist, Meaghan Delahunt and Mexican writer Juan Pablo Villalobos. The non-voting Chairperson is Eugene R. Sullivan (USA).