Donal Ryan among writers shortlised for 2014 Impac Award

Donal Ryan, author of The Spinning Heart, has been shortlisted with nine other writers for the €100,000 2014 International Impac Dublin Literary Award.

David Park from Northern Ireland, who penned The Light of Amsterdam, is also on the list, which features several international works translated into English.

The award is the most lucrative for a single work published in the English language and is administered by Dublin City libraries.

The other works on the shortlist are The Detour by Gerbrand Bakker; Questions of Travel by Michelle de Kretser; Absolution by Patrick Flanery; A Death in the Family by Karl Ove Knausgaard; Three Strong W om en by Marie NDiaye; Traveller of the Century by Andrés Neuman; The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng and The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

The titles were nominated by public libraries in Australia, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Norway, South Africa and The Netherlands. The winner, will be announced on Thursday, June 12th.

The Spinning Heart tells the story of 21 victims of the property crash and has won widespread praise, winning the Irish Book of the Year Award before being long-listed for the Man Booker Prize and topping bestseller lists.

The Light of Amsterdam opens at the funeral of George Best and develops into a biblical story of cheating before wrapping up at a disappointing Bob Dylan concert in Amsterdam.

Deputy Lord Mayor of Dublin Henry Upton announced the shortlist in Dublin. “This is a list of high quality literature that includes five novels in translation which readers might not otherwise get the opportunity to read,” he said.

“And I am delighted to see Donal Ryan and David Park on the list. This is a real tribute from the judges to the quality of contemporary Irish writing.”

Additional reporting PA