Liz McSkene has won the 1999 Hennessy New Irish Writer award. Ms McSkene, who also took the Emerging Poetry title, won the award for her works, Water Lilies, Botanic Gardens and Sculpture, Botanic Gardens. Born in Glasgow, she has lived in Dublin since 1981.
The Emerging Fiction award went to a Welsh-born Connemara resident, Alys Meiriol, for her work, Providence. The winner in the first fiction category was Fiona O'Connor, the author of Empire, who lives in London.
