Asking for It by Louise O’Neill is Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book of the Year 2015

Asking for It, the second novel by Louise O’Neill, has been voted the Bord Gáis Energy Book of the Year for 2015.

It was chosen by public vote from the list of category winners announced at the recent Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards. Previous winners include Academy Street by Mary Costello, Staring at Lakes by Michael Harding, The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan and Solace by Belinda McKeon.

Asking for It is a Young Adult novel which explores betrayal and consent, truth and denial, in the age of the smartphone. It is an unflinching and deeply disturbing book which captures a great snapshot of any small town in Ireland and ensures the reader will be left thinking about our own culture and attitudes.

O’Neill grew up in Clonakilty, west Cork. After receiving an honours BA in English Studies from Trinity College Dublin, she went on to complete a postgraduate diploma in Fashion Buying from the Dublin Institute of Technology. She moved to New York City in 2010 and spent a year there interning as an assistant stylist for the senior style director of Elle magazine. Upon returning to Ireland in 2011, she began writing her first novel Only Ever Yours, which was published in 2014 by Quercus. She won the inaugural YA Book Prize and the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year at the 2014 Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards.

O’Neill said: “I’m delighted to have won. Irish readers have taken this novel to their hearts in a way that has been both humbling and hugely exciting, and I can’t express enough how grateful I am. This is the perfect way to end a rather crazy year.”

Dave Kirwan, chief operating officer at Bord Gáis Energy, said: “There was an extremely high standard at this year’s BGE Irish Book Awards and it really was a tough competition for the overall prize. Louise O’Neill is a truly deserving winner with her book Asking for It, which has touched a chord with readers of all ages. Louise is fast making her mark in the literary world, having won Newcomer of the Year last year and now being crowned the title of overall Bord Gáis Energy Book of the Year. I wish her every success in the future.”

The full list of winners in the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards 2015 are:

Eason Book Club Novel of the Year

The Green Road by Anne Enright (Jonathan Cape)

TheJournal.ie Best Irish Published Book of the Year

The Long Gaze Back: An Anthology of Irish Women Writers edited by Sinéad Gleeson (New Island Books)

Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year (Junior)

Imaginary Fred by Eoin Colfer and Oliver Jeffers (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year (Senior)

Asking For It by Louise O’ Neill (Quercus Books)

Avonmore Cookbook of the Year

The Virtuous Tart by Susan Jane White (Gill & Macmillan)

Ireland AM Crime Book of the Year

After the Fire by Jane Casey (Ebury Press)

Irish Independent Popular Fiction Book of the Year

The Way We Were by Sinead Moriarty (Penguin Ireland)

National Book Tokens Non-Fiction Book of the Year

Children of the Rising by Joe Duffy (Hachette Books Ireland)

Bord Gáis Energy Sports Book of the Year

Until Victory Always: A Memoir by Jim Mc Guinness (Gill & Macmillan)

Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year

Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume (Tramp Press)

Books Are My Bag Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year

Me and My Mate Jeffrey by Niall Breslin (Hachette Books Ireland)

RTÉ Radio 1’s The Ryan Tubridy Show Listeners’ Choice Award

Irelandopedia by Fatti and John Burke (Gill & Macmillan)

Writing.ie Short Story of the Year

A Slanting of the Sun by Donal Ryan (A Slanting of the Sun/Doubleday)