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Some of the biggest names in Irish literature are set to go head to head for the richest literary prize in the world, with Colm Tóibín, Colum McCann and William Trevor all making the shortlist for the 100,000 euro Impac Dublin literary award.
For the first time since 2000, not a single foreign title has been shortlisted for the prize. This is despite the inclusion on the 162-novel longlist of 42 books in translation, by authors ranging from Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk to acclaimed Israeli writer Amos Oz and bestselling Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
Instead, Ireland has mustered its strongest ever showing. McCann's National Book award-winning Let the Great World Spin, set around Philippe Petit's 1974 tightrope walk between the World Trade Centre towers, and Brooklyn – former Impac winner Tóibín's story about a woman's move from 1950s Ireland to Brooklyn – were both selected by judges from a longlist nominated by librarians worldwide.
Trevor, at 82 one of the elder statesman of the Irish literary world, was picked for his novel Love and Summer, the tale of a love affair in a small Irish town over one long summer. Knighted for his services to literature in 2002, Trevor is a winner of the Whitbread and the prestigious David Cohen prize for a lifetime's achievement in writing.
"It's a wonderful coincidence that so shortly after Dublin being awarded Unesco City of Literature status, three of the 10 novels on the Impac Dublin award shortlist should be by Irish authors," said Dublin's Lord Mayor Gerry Breen, announcing the shortlist this morning.
The Irish contingent is up against a strong American showing including Joyce Carol Oates's Little Bird of Heaven, which unfolds in the aftermath of the murder of young wife and mother Zoe Kruller. Also in contention are The Lacuna, a historical novel by Orange prize winner Barbara Kingsolver, and Guardian first book award winner Yiyun Li's debut novel The Vagrants, in which a young woman is executed for losing her faith in communism.
Australian heavyweight David Malouf makes the lineup for Ransom, a fresh take on the Iliad, as do fellow Australians Evie Wyld and Craig Silvey. Wyld's is in contention for her debut offering After the Fire, a Still, Small Voice, about the relationships between fathers and sons, while Silvey makes the cut with his coming of age novel, Jasper Jones. Canadian novelist Michael Crummey completes the shortlist with Galore, in which a modern-day Jonah is discovered alive inside a whale.
The winner will be selected by a panel of judges which includes Irish novelist John Boyne, German poet and translator Michael Hofmann and Welsh author Tessa Hadley, with an announcement due on 15 June.
The shortlist
Galore by Michael Crummey (Canadian)
The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (American)
The Vagrants by Yiyun Li (Chinese/American)
Ransom by David Malouf (Australian)
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Irish)
Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates (American)
Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey (Australian)
Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (Irish) Viking UK,
Love and Summer by William Trevor (Irish)
After the Fire, a Still, Small Voice by Evie Wyld (Australian)
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