Arts and Culture, Editor Picks

Roscommon author shortlisted in the An Post Irish Book Awards

Written by Roscommon People Reporter on

More in Arts and Culture:

County Roscommon author Patsy McGarry has been shortlisted for the highly-regarded An Post Irish Book Awards.

In making the shortlist, McGarry joins a host of talented authors, with this year’s shortlist featuring a diverse and exciting mix of exceptional writing from new and established writers across twenty categories.

Roscommon author Patsy McGarry has been shortlisted in the ‘Dubray Biography of the Year’ category of the 2024 An Post Irish Book Awards for his book, ‘Well, Holy God: My Life as an Irish, Catholic, Agnostic Correspondent’.

Ballaghaderreen native McGarry was shortlisted in the ‘Dubray Biography of the Year’ category of this year’s awards for his book, ‘Well, Holy God: My Life as an Irish, Catholic, Agnostic Correspondent’, released earlier this year.

The category winners selected from this shortlist will be announced at an awards ceremony in the Convention Centre, Dublin, on Wednesday, November 27th. And a TV programme announcing the overall ‘An Post Irish Book of the Year’ winner will be broadcast on RTÉ ONE on Thursday, December 19th.

Now in its 19th year, the An Post Irish Book Awards celebrate and promote Irish writing to the widest range of readers possible.

The shortlist of six for the short story and poetry categories was selected from the monthly winners between November 2023 and October 2024 by Ciaran Carty, New Irish Writing’s Editor since 1988, and Associate Editor Dermot Bolger. The overall winners of both categories will be chosen by two of New Irish Writing’s most successful and respected alumni – John Boyne and Paula Meehan.

Other categories include ‘Novel of the Year’, ‘Children’s (Junior and Senior)’, ‘Newcomer’, ‘Lifestyle’, ‘Crime Fiction’, ‘Biography’, ‘Popular Fiction’, ‘Non-fiction’, ‘Sports’, ‘Teen and Young Adult’, and ‘Irish Language’.

To tie in with the announcement of the An Post Irish Book Awards shortlist, the public are now being asked to have their say and cast their votes for the best books of the year on the An Post Irish Book Awards website, via anpostirishbookawards.ie/vote. All voters will be entered into a prize draw to win one of five €100 National Book Tokens vouchers. Voters may cast their votes from 8 pm on the 24th of October until voting closes on the 14th of November at 5 pm.