Dublin Literary Award

The Dublin Literary Award (), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996 and known as the International Dublin Literary Award (2016–2020), is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. It promotes excellence in world literature and is solely sponsored by Dublin City Council, Ireland. At €100,000, the award is one of the richest literary prizes in the world. If the winning book is a translation (as it has been twelve times), the prize is divided between the writer and the translator, with the writer receiving €75,000 and the translator €25,000. The first award was made in 1996 to David Malouf for his English-language novel Remembering Babylon.

Nominations are submitted by public libraries worldwide – over 400 library systems in 177 countries worldwide are invited to nominate books each year – from which the shortlist and the eventual winner are selected by an international panel of judges (which changes each year).

Eligibility and procedure

The prize 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. The presentation of the award is post-dated by two years from the date of publication. Thus, to win an award in 2017, the work must have been published in 2015. If it is an English translation, the work must have been published in its original language between two and six years before its translation. The scope for inclusion has been subject to criticism; according to The Irish Times journalist Eileen Battersby, "many of the titles are already well known even at the time of the publication of the long list."

Dublin City Public Libraries seek nominations from 400 public libraries from major cities across the world. Libraries can apply to be considered for inclusion in the nomination process. The longlist is announced in October or November of each year, and the shortlist (up to 10 titles) is announced in March or April of the following year. The longlist and shortlist are chosen by an international panel of judges which rotates each year. Allen Weinstein was the non-voting chair of the panel from 1996 to 2003. As of 2017, the former Chief Judge of the US Court of Appeals, Eugene R. Sullivan, is the non-voting chair. The winner of the award is announced each June. It was reported that the council paid €100,000 for the prize plus €80,250 in administration costs in 2015. In 2021, it was awarded as the Dublin Literary Award.

Describing the award as "the most eclectic and unpredictable of the literary world's annual gongs", the journalist Michelle Pauli posed the question in relation to the longlist for the 2004 edition: "Where would you find Michael Dobbs and Tony Parsons up against Umberto Eco and Milan Kundera for a €100,000 prize?"

Winners and shortlists

1990s

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"

|+Dublin Literary Award winners and finalists, 1996–1999

! scope="col" | Year

! scope="col" | Author

! scope="col" | Title

! scope="col" | Translator

! scope="col" | Language

! scope="col" | Result

! scope="col" |

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="7" |1996

|Remembering Babylon

|English

|Winner

|Reservation Blues

|English

|Shortlist

|' En kakelsättares eftermiddag

|Swedish

|Shortlist

|Novel Without a Name Tiểu thuyết vô đề

| &

|Vietnamese

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Pereira Maintains Sostiene Pereira

|Italian

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Morvern Callar

|English

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="10" |1998

|' Herztier

|German

|Winner

|Alias Grace

|English

|Shortlist

|Imaginings of Sand Sandkastele

|Afrikaans / English

|Shortlist

|Quarantine

|English

|Shortlist

|Underworld

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Enduring Love

|English

|Shortlist

|'

|Japanese

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|' Der Vorleser

|German

|Shortlist

2000s

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible"

|+Dublin Literary Award winners and finalists, 2000–2009

|English

|Shortlist

|' El amor que me juraste

|Spanish

|Shortlist

|Our Fathers

|English

|Shortlist

|' Чапаев и Пустота

|Russian

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="7" |2002

|Atomised Les Particules élémentaires

|French

|Winner

|English

|Shortlist

|True History of the Kelly Gang

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|' Los años con Laura Díaz

|Spanish

|Shortlist

|Madame

|Polish

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="8" |2003

|My Name Is Red Benim Adım Kırmızı

|Turkish

|Winner

|English

|Shortlist

|Any Human Heart

|English

|Shortlist

|Caramelo

|English

|Shortlist

|Middlesex

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Balthasar's Odyssey Le Périple de Baldassare

|French

|Shortlist

|Family Matters

|English

|Shortlist

|Earth and Ashes

|Persian

|Shortlist

|House of Day, House of Night Dom dzienny, dom nocny

|Polish

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="10" |2005

|English

|Winner

|Gardening at Night

|English

|Shortlist

|' Halvbroren

|Norwegian

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Elle

|English

|Shortlist

|Phantom Pain Fantoompijn

|Dutch

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Willenbrock

|German

|Shortlist

|Deafening

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="10" |2006

|English

|Winner

|GraceLand

|English

|Shortlist

|Maps for Lost Lovers

|English

|Shortlist

|Havoc in Its Third Year

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|' Et andet lys

|Danish

|Shortlist

|' Les Hirondelles de Kaboul

|French

|Shortlist

|Breaking the Tongue

|English

|Shortlist

|Don't Move Non ti muovere

|Italian

|Shortlist

|Arthur & George

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Slow Man

|English

|Shortlist

|Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|No Country for Old Men

|English

|Shortlist

|Shalimar the Clown

|English

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="8" |2008

|De Niro's Game

|English

|Winner

|' La velocidad de la luz

|Spanish

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Dreams of Speaking

|English

|Shortlist

|Let It Be Morning

|Hebrew

|Shortlist

|' L'Attentat

|French

|Shortlist

|' La femme qui attendait

|French

|Shortlist

|Winterwood

|English

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="8" |2009

|Man Gone Down

|English

|Winner

|English

|Shortlist

|' L'Élégance du hérisson

|French

|Shortlist

|In Zodiac Light

|English

|Shortlist

|Settlement Landnahme

|German

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Netherland

|English

|Shortlist

|' La carte et le territoire

|French

|Shortlist

|Pure

|English

|Shortlist

|1Q84

| & Philip Gabriel

|Japanese

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Swamplandia!

|English

|Shortlist

|Sjón

|From the Mouth of the Whale Rökkurbýsnir

|Icelandic

|Shortlist

|' Jo fortere jeg går, jo mindre er jeg

|Norwegian

|Shortlist

|Caesarion

|Dutch

|Shortlist

|-style=background:#cddeff

! rowspan="10" |2014

|' El ruido de las cosas al caer

|Spanish

|Winner

|' De omweg

|Dutch

|Shortlist

|Americanah

|English

|Shortlist

|Horses of God Les étoiles de Sidi Moumen

|French

|Shortlist

|Outlaws Las leyes de la frontera

|Spanish

|Shortlist

|Academy Street

|English

|Shortlist

|Confession of the Lioness A Confissão da Leoa

|Portuguese

|Shortlist

|English

|Shortlist

|Baba Dunja's Last Love Baba Dunjas letzte Liebe

|German

|Shortlist

|' La transmigración de los cuerpos

|Spanish

|Shortlist

|My Name Is Lucy Barton

|English

|Shortlist

|Compass Boussole

|French

|Shortlist

|History of Wolves

|English

|Shortlist

|Disoriental Désorientale

|French

|Shortlist

|Girl, Woman, Other

|English

|Shortlist

|Apeirogon

|English

|Shortlist

|Remote Sympathy

|English

|Shortlist

|At Night All Blood Is Black Frère d'âme

|French

|Shortlist

|Cloud Cuckoo Land

|English

|Shortlist

|The Trees

|English

|Shortlist

|Old God's Time

|English

|Shortlist

|Haven

|English

|Shortlist

|North Woods

|English

|Shortlist

|Perspective(s)

|French

|Shortlist

|In Late Summer U kasno ljeto

|Croatian

|Shortlist