A first novel by a Chinese writer who fled to America in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre is among the short-listed books for this year's Irish Times International Fiction Prize.
Ha Jin joins American authors Philip Roth and Denis Johnson, and the Sri Lankan-born novelist and poet Michael Ondaatje on the nomination list.
All four short-listed books in the international fiction category are novels. Roth, whose novel Operation Shylock made it to the shortlist for the Irish Times prize in 1993, is this year nominated for The Human Stain; Johnson for The Name of the World; Ondaatje for Anil's Ghost, and Ha Jin for Waiting which has already received the National Book Award in America.
The novelist and short story writer William Trevor has been shortlisted along with writers Eoin McNamee and Emma Donoghue for the fiction prize category of The Irish Times Irish Literature Prizes.
Academic, writer and critic Declan Kiberd, who won the same prize in 1997 for Inventing Ireland, has been nominated again this year in the non-fiction section for his latest publication, Irish Classics. Kiberd is in competition with fellow UCD academic Angela Bourke and novelist Aidan Higgins, who is shortlisted for the third volume of his autobiography.
Having received several accolades this year for his poetry including the T S Eliot Prize and the Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, Belfast poet Michael Longley is nominated for his latest collection The Weather in Japan. He shares the poetry shortlist with Richard Murphy and Dennis O'Driscoll.
The complete list of nominations for the three Irish Literature Prizes for work in English is: Fiction - Emma Donoghue for Slammerkin, Eoin McNamee for The Blue Tango, and William Trevor for The Hill Bachelors; Non-fiction -Angela Bourke for The Burning of Bridget Cleary, Aidan Higgins for The Whole Hog and Declan Kiberd for Irish Classics; Poetry - Michael Longley for The Weather in Japan, Richard Murphy for Collected Poems and Dennis O'Driscoll for Weather Permitting.
The International Fiction Prize is for work written in English and published in Ireland, United Kingdom or the United States between July 31st, 1999 and August 1st, 2001.
The four Irish Literature Prizes are for fiction, poetry, non-fiction in English and for a work in any of these categories in the Irish language.
The shortlist for the Irish Literature prize for a work in the Irish language includes two books of poetry and a first novel. Biddy Jenkinson is nominated for Rogha Dβnta; Cathal ╙ Searchaigh for Ag Tn·th leis an tSolas; and Micheβl ╙ Conghaile for his first novel, Sna Fir.
The Irish Times literature prizes were first presented in 1989 and since 1995 have been presented biennially.
The last prizes were presented two years ago and won by American writer Lorrie Moore for her collection, Birds of America; Seamus Heaney for Opened Ground; Neil Belton for The Good Listener; Antonia Logue for Shadow-box; and Mβirin Nic Eoin for B'ait Leo Bean.
Other previous winners include Don DeLillo, E Annie Proulx, A S Byatt, John McGahern, Patrick McCabe, J M Coetzee, Paul Muldoon, Colm Toib∅n, Derek Mahon and Seamus Deane.
The international fiction prize is worth £7,500, and the winners of the Irish Literature Prizes will each receive £5,000.
The names of the winning authors will be announced in The Irish Times in early October and the President, Mrs McAleese, will present the prizes at a ceremony in Dublin on November 15th.