Two Mayo winners at An Post Irish Book Awards 2021
Mayo has enjoyed success on the double at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2021.
'Beautiful World, Where Are You' by Sally Rooney was voted Novel of the Year.
It's the Castlebar author's second time to secure the accolade, having done so with her previous best -seller, 'Normal People'.
'Beautiful World, Where Are You' tells the story of Alice, a novelist, who meets Felix, a warehouse employee, and asks him if he'd like to travel to Rome with her.
In Dublin, her best friend Eileen is getting over a break-up and slips back into flirting with Simon, a man she has known since childhood.
Alice, Felix, Eileen and Simon are still young - but life is catching up with them. They desire each other, they delude each other, they get together, they break apart.
Will they find a way to believe in a beautiful world?
Councillor Ger Deere has extended congratulations to Sally and her family on the success.
"Castlebar is very proud of her achievements," he added.
'Madame Lazare,' written by Aughamore's Tadgh Mac Dhonnagain, was named Irish Language Book of the Year.
A compelling story that follows the life of the mysterious Hana Lazare, the novel moves back and forward and back again in time between the Irish-speaking west coast of Ireland of the 1930s, to a devout Jewish community in 1990s Paris, to present day Brussels as the old woman’s granddaughter, Levana tries to discover who her grandmother really is and Hana struggles in vain to keep her secret.
It is the first novel by screenwriter, children’s author and songwriter, Tadhg Mac Dhonnagáin, who resides in Galway.
Speaking of the award, Mac Dhonnagáin said that he was delighted to receive recognition, not just for himself as a writer but also for the meitheal who helped him bring it to print: editors Máíre Zepf, Róisín Adams and Róise Nic Dhonnagáin and the Futa Fata/Barzaz core team, Breda Ní Chonghaile and Gemma Breathnach.
Kennys Bookshop and Art Gallery, Galway, was chosen as Bookshop of the Year.
Voting is now open for the An Post Irish Book of the Year which will be announced on the December 8.
The full list of winners is:
Novel of the Year
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Crime Fiction Book of the Year
56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard
Sport Book of the Year
Fight Or Flight: My Life, My Choices by Keith Earls, with Tommy Conlon
Newcomer of the Year
Snowflake by Louise Nealon
Non-Fiction Book of the Year
We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958 by Fintan O’Toole
Biography of the Year
Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? by Séamas O’Reilly
Cookbook of the Year
Everyday Cook by Donal Skehan
Popular Fiction Book of the Year
Aisling and the City by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen
Lifestyle Book of the Year
Décor Galore by Laura De Barra
Best Irish Published Book of the Year
The Coastal Atlas of Ireland by Val Cummins, Robert Devoy Barry Brunt, Darius Bartlett, Sarah Kandrot
Children’s Book of the Year (Junior)
A Hug for You by David King, illustrated by Rhiannon Archard
Children’s Book of the Year (Senior)
The Summer I Robbed a Bank by David O’Doherty, illustrated by Chris Judge
Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year
The New Girl by Sinead Moriarty
RTÉ Audience Choice Award
Your One Wild And Precious Life by Maureen Gaffney
Author of the Year
Marian Keyes
Short Story of the Year
Little Lives by Deirdre Sullivan
Irish Poem of the Year
Longboat at Portaferry by Siobhan Campbell
Irish Language Book of the Year
Madame Lazare by Tadgh Mac Dhonnagain
Bookshop of the Year
Kennys Bookshop and Art Gallery, Galway