The Sri Lankan-born novelist Michael Ondaatje, short story writer William Trevor and poet Michael Longley are among the winners of this year's Irish Times literature prizes which are for international and Irish writing.
Ondaatje has won the International Fiction Prize for his novel Anil's Ghost. He has previously won the Booker Prize for The English Patient which later became an Oscar-winning film.
Cork-born William Trevor, who has been the recipient of many British awards for his writing, won The Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction for his latest collection of stories, The Hill Bachelors. He has been shortlisted on three previous occasions for this award.
One of Ireland's finest international poets, Michael Longley, adds the Irish Literature Prize for Poetry to several other awards including the T.S. Eliot Prize received earlier this year for his latest book, The Weather in Japan.
The Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for a work in the Irish language goes to another poet, Cathal ╙ Searcaigh, for his volume, Ag Tn·th leis an tSolas. A fifth prize which goes to an Irish writer for a work of non-fiction has been awarded to Angela Bourke for The Burning of Bridget Cleary, which is based on real events which took place in Tipperary in 1859.
Established in 1989, these literature prizes are presented every two years. The international prize is worth £7,500 and the winners of each of the Irish prizes will receive £5,000. The President, Mrs McAleese, will present the winners with their prizes at a ceremony in Dublin on November 15th.
Literary Correspondent Eileen Battersby assesses the prize-winners and their work in today's Weekend (page).