Four Irish titles are included among the 49 novels selected for the Dublin Literary Award 2021 longlist, which was unveiled today. The award, now in its 26th year, is sponsored by Dublin City Council, and is considered one of the most prestigious literary prizes in the world – worth €100,000 to the winning author.

Books are nominated for the award by invited public libraries in cities throughout the world. When All Is Said by Anne Griffin was nominated by Łódź Public Library in Poland; Apeirogon by Colum McCann was nominated by South Dublin Libraries; Shadowplay by Joseph O'Connor was nominated by Municipal Library of Genève in Switzerland; and The Trumpet Shall Sound by Eibhear Walshe was nominated by Cork City Libraries.

The shortlist will be announced on March 25, with Lord Mayor of Dublin Hazel Chu revealing the winner on May 20, as part of the opening day programme of  the International Literary Festival Dublin.

Other notable titles on the longlist include 2019 Booker Prize winner Girl Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo; The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett; The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead; and Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli.

"Books and reading have sustained the human spirit during this, the Covid-19 pandemic," Mairead Owens, Dublin City Librarian, remarks. "We escaped with our favourite authors to distant lands, we explored new cultures and we learnt new skills. Librarians are privileged to work in such a rewarding environment. Yes, we faced many challenges over the last year but we have risen to support our communities. Dublin City is appreciative of libraries worldwide for your participation in the 2021 Dublin Literary Award. The Award solidifies the ethos of fostering literacy and a love of reading in our respective local communities and the fact that we work internationally is significant."

The international panel of judges who will select the winner includes Jan Carson, a writer and community arts facilitator based in Belfast; David James Karashima, an author, translator, and associate professor of creative writing at Waseda University in Tokyo; Dr Rita Sakr who lectures in Postcolonial and Global Literatures at Maynooth University; Dr Martín Veiga, a Cork-based Galician poet, translator, and academic who lectures in Hispanic Studies at University College Cork; and Enda Wyley, an Irish poet, author, and teacher who has published six collections of poetry.

See the full longlist here.