Three Irish authors feature on Impac longlist

Three Irish authors have been nominated for the International Impac Dublin Literary Award.

The longlist, published today, consists of 152 titles proposed by libraries all over the world.

The judges will now select 10 books for the shortlist from which the eventual winner will be chosen and announced next June.

Irish fiction had a lower representation than last year, when a record eight authors were named on the initial longlist.

This year only three writers made the cut.

Tipperary writer Donal Ryan was nominated for his debut novel The Spinning Heart along with former Impac winner Colm Tóibín for The Testament of Mary, and David Park for The Light of Amsterdam.

Other novels nominated for the 2014 award include Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, winner of the 2012 Man Booker Prize and the Costa Prize; The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson, winner of the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and The Round House by Louise Erdrich, winner of the 2012 National Book Award.

Among the 41 translated authors are Mario Vargas Llosa (Peruvian-Spanish writer, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature); Karl Ove Knausgård (Norway), Herman Koch (The Netherlands)and Ragna Sigurðardóttir (Iceland).

Two previous Impac winners, 2010 winner Gerbrand Bakker and 1998 winner Herta Müller, have also been nominated. Herta Müller was also the recipient of the 2009 Nobel prize for literature.

The most nominated books this year were Mantel's Bring Up the Bodies and Canada byRichard Ford, both of which received nine nominations from libraries in Canada, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Switzerland, Britain and America.

Other books nominated by multiple libraries are The Dinner by Herman Koch, The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson, The Round House byLouise Erdrich and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce.

Dublin City Librarian Margaret Hayes announced that the 152 books eligible for the 2014 award were nominated by libraries in 110 cities and 39 countries worldwide, noting that '41 are titles in translation, spanning 17 languages, and 47 are first novels'.

The €100,000 award, which was establihsed in 1996, is run by Dublin City Council’s library service.

Dublin Lord Mayor, Oisín Quinn, commended the IMPAC DUBLIN Award for its promotion of excellence in world literature as well as for the opportunity to promote Irish writing internationally.

"Dublin is a Unesco City of Literature and cultural tourism is a vital part of the city's economy," he said. "This prestigious award enhances the city's worldwide reputation as a literary destination."

Three Irish novelists have been previous recipients. Last year, Kevin Barry won for his debut novel City of Bohane, in 2011, Colum McCann won for Let the Great World Spin , and in 2006, Colm Tóibín won with The Master .

The 2014 winner will be announced at a ceremony during the summer.