Solar Bones by Mike McCormack, a novel constructed from a single sentence, has won the Novel of the Year prize at the 2016 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards .
Last week, the Galway-based author's first novel in 11 years won the £10,000 Goldsmiths Prize in London, which he described as "payback" for his small Dublin-based publisher Tramp Press and his agent who had backed him during his "long and difficult adventure" as a writer.
Set in rural Co Mayo, Solar Bones is the story of a dead man returning home on All Souls Day to look back over his life. As last month's Irish Times Book Club selection, it drew critical praise from fellow writers Claire Kilroy, Colin Barrett, Sara Baume, John Kelly and Mia Gallagher. Rob Doyle, in a review in The Irish Times, wrote that McCormack's visionary intensity is not only convincing but spellbinding.
Marian Keyes, Graham Norton, Paul O'Connell and Tana French were also among the winning authors announced in Dublin on Wednesday.
Graham Norton won the Popular Fiction Book of the Year for Holding and Making It Up As I Go Along by Marian Keyes won Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year. The Glass Shore edited by Sinéad Gleeson, an anthology of Irish womewn writers, was chosen as Best Irish Published Book of the Year while Newcomer of the Year award went to EM Reapy for Red Dirt, a novel about Irish backpackers in Australia. Crime Fiction Book of the Year is The Trespasser by Tana French.
In Glasnevin by Jane Clarke, first published in The Irish Times, won the inaugural Irish Poem of the Year award.
Renowned poet John Montague was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award and bestselling author Jilly Cooper received the Bord Gáis Energy International Recognition Award.
Now in its 11th year, the awards ceremony in Dublin's was presented by Keelin Shanley and attended by many of Ireland's leading writers, publishers, booksellers and media personalities including writers Sebastian Barry, Maggie O' Farrell, Donal Ryan, Marita Conlon McKenna, Roddy Doyle, Cecelia Ahern, Michael Harding, John Bowman and Fintan O' Toole, media personalities Gay Byrne, Ryan Tubridy, Jason Byrne, Pippa O' Connor, and Louise McSharry, food writers Indy Power, Sophie White and Roz Purcell, and sports stars Jason McAteer, Donal Lenihan and Cathal McCarron.
More than 45,000 readers voted to select the winners in each category. The public can vote for their overall Book of the Year at bgeirishbookawards.ie until December 9th. Previous winners include Louise O' Neill for Asking for It, Mary Costello for Academy St, Donal Ryan for The Spinning Heart, Michael Harding for Staring at Lakes and Belinda McKeon for Solace.
Interviews with the winners, along with highlights from the awards ceremony, will be broadcast on RTÉ One on Saturday, 19th November at 11.15pm.
Commenting on this year's winners, Larry MacHale, Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards chairperson, said: "I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all of this year's winning authors. The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards was founded to celebrate and promote Irish writing to the widest range of readers possible. Each year it brings together a huge community passionate about books – readers, authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians – to recognise and celebrate the very best Irish writing talent."
Dave Kirwan, managing director at Bord Gáis Energy, added: “The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Books Awards is a fantastic celebration of writing. I’d like to congratulate the winning authors and wish them every success in the future. I also look forward to the reveal of overall Book of the Year next month and encourage the public to get behind their favourite authors in what will be a tough competition.”
Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2016 winners
Book Club Novel of the Year: Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Tramp Press)
Best Irish Published Book of the Year: The Glass Shore edited by Sinéad Gleeson (New Island Books)
Newcomer of the Year: Red Dirt by EM Reapy (Head of Zeus)
Non-Fiction Book of the Year: I Read The News Today, Oh Boy by Paul Howard (Picador)
Ryan Tubridy's Listener's Choice Award: Lying In Wait by Liz Nugent (Penguin Ireland)
Children's Book of the Year: Junior – Pigín of Howth by Kathleen Watkins, illustrated by Margaret Anne Suggs (Gill Books); Senior – Knights of the Borrowed Dark by Dave Rudden (Puffin)
Cookbook of the Year: The World of The Happy Pear by Stephen and David Flynn (Penguin Ireland)
Popular Fiction Book of the Year: Holding by Graham Norton (Hodder & Stoughton)
Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year: Making It Up As I Go Along by Marian Keyes (Michael Joseph)
Sports Book of the Year: The Battle by Paul O'Connell (Penguin Ireland)
Crime Fiction Book of the Year: The Trespasser by Tana French (Hachette Ireland)
Short Story of the Year: The Visit by Orla McAlinden (Sowilo Press)
Irish Poem of the Year: In Glasnevin by Jane Clarke (From The Irish Times)
