Longlist for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award Revealed
Published on 14th January 2025
Novels by seven Irish authors are among the 71 books nominated by 83 libraries around the world for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award, which is sponsored by Dublin City Council. Celebrating 30 years of excellence in world literature, this award is the world's most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English, worth €100,000 to the winner.
The longlist compiled from libraries across 34 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, the US, Canada, South America, Australia, and New Zealand, has 26 novels in translation and 16 debut novelists. If the winning book has been translated, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.
The 26 translated books represent 15 languages including Korean, Farsi, Icelandic and Slovenian.
The longlist of 71 titles can be viewed in the attached PDF file and at dublinliteraryaward.ie
Download the complete longlist of library nominations (PDF 54.4)
Reserve Dublin Literary Award Longlist 2025 from our catalogue.

Titles by Irish authors for the 2025 Award are:
- Wild Houses by Colin Barrett, published by Jonathan Cape, and nominated by Limerick City and County Libraries
- Water by John Boyne, published by Doubleday, and nominated by Waterford City and Council Libraries
- Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson, published by 4th Estate, and nominated by Galway Public Libraries
- Prophet Song by Paul Lynch, published by Oneworld Publications, and nominated by Jamaica Library Service
- Seaborne by Nuala O’Connor, published by New Island Books, and nominated by Openbare Bibliotheek Brugge (Bruges Public Library)
- Christ on a Bike by Orla Owen, published by Bluemoose Books, and nominated by Norfolk Library and Information Service
- Long Island by Colm Tóibín, published by Scribner, and nominated by Bibliotheca Alexandrina and Libraries NI (Northern Ireland)
The shortlist will be announced on 25th March 2025 and the winner will be announced by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain on 22nd May 2025, as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin, which is also funded by Dublin City Council.
The nominated novels will be available for readers to borrow from Dublin City Libraries and from public libraries around Ireland, and some can be borrowed as eBooks and eAudiobooks on the free Borrowbox app, available to all public library users.
“A special commitment is required to judge the Dublin Literary Award with its eclectic range of books nominated from libraries across the world. I commend the dedication of this year’s judging panel with a special thanks to the chair, Professor Chris Morash”, commented Dublin City Librarian, Mairead Owens.
Speaking at the launch of the longlist, Patron of the Award, the Lord Mayor of Dublin Emma Blain said: “For over 30 years The Dublin Literary Award has connected readers through the best of fiction from around the world. I am delighted to see that this year’s longlist continues to reflect the breadth of imagination we associate with the award showcasing cultures, traditions and unique perspectives.”
The international panel of Judges features Gerbrand Bakker, Dutch author and winner of the Dublin Literary Award in 2010; Martina Devlin, award winning Irish author and newspaper columnist; Fiona Sze-Lorrain, writer, poet, translator, musician and editor based in Paris; Prof. Leonard Cassuto, professor of American literature at Fordham University, freelance literary journalist, columnist, editor and author; and Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe, poet, pacifist and editor based in Dublin.
The non-voting Chairperson is Professor Chris Morash, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin.