IRISH AUTHOR KEVIN Barry is one of 10 writers nominated for the prestigious 2013 Impac Award, which has a considerable prize of €100,000.

The International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award Shortlist 2013 includes just one Irish author, Barry, and five novels in translation out of the overall 10 nominated novels.

The award is managed by Dublin City Libraries and sponsored by IMPAC, an international management productivity company. It is the world’s most valuable annual literary award for a single work of fiction published in English.

Shortlist

The shortlisted titles were announced by Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Naoise Ó Muirí, Patron of the award. They are:

• City of Bohane by Kevin Barry(Irish) (First novel). Published by Johathan Cape
• The Map and the Territory by Michel Houellebecq (French). Translated from the original French by Gavin Bowd. Published by William Heineman
• Pure by Andrew Miller (British). Published by Sceptre
• 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (Japanese). Translated from the original Japanese by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel. Published by Harvill Secker and Alfred A Knopf
• The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (Japanese American). Published by Alfred A Knopf
• The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips (American). Published by Random House Inc.
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell (American). Published by Alfred A Knopf
• From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjón (Icelandic). Translated from the original Icelandic by Victoria Cribb. Published by Telegram Books
• The Faster I Walk, The Smaller I Am by Kjersti Skomsvold (Norwegian), (first novel). Translated from the original Norwegian by Kerri A Pierce. Published by Dalkey Archive Press
• Caesarion by Tommy Wieringa (Dutch). Translated from the original Dutch by Sam Garrett. Published by Portobello Books

The Lord Mayor described it as “a list of high quality literature that includes five novels in translation which readers might not otherwise get the opportunity to read”, adding he is delighted to see an Irish author on the list.

This is a real tribute from the judges to the quality of Irish contemporary writing.

The books can be borrowed from pubic libraries. “This is the highest number of books in translation on the shortlist since the award began,” said Margaret Hayes, Dublin City librarian.

There is something here for everyone and I urge readers to get stuck in and enjoy the humour and sadness, history and fantasy, teenage and elderly angst on this year’s shortlist.

The 10 short listed titles were nominated by public libraries in Estonia, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, The Netherlands, and the USA.

Two of the shortlisted authors are previous winners – Andrew Miller won the prize in 1999 for his novel Ingenious Pain and Michel Houellebecq won in 2002 for his novel Atomised.

Judging

The five-member international judging panel, chaired by Hon Eugene R Sullivan, will select one winner which will be announced by the Lord Mayor of Dublin on Thursday 6 June 2013.

The IMPAC DUBLIN Award is presented annually with the objective of promoting excellence in world literature and 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 in a specified time period.

Read: Eight Irish writers on longlist for Impac book award>