Sir, - John Boland in his Bookworm column (April 26th) sensibly argues that the IMPAC £100,000 prize for a single work of fiction should be spread over a number of literary forms. He suggests, apart from an overall winner, prizes for a first novel, an Irish novel, and a poetry or essay collection. What has he forgotten?
Well, consider - the following short list of distinguished Irish writers, many of them world famous: John Banville, Samuel Beckett, Elizabeth Bowen, Patrick Boyle, Daniel Corkery, Brian Friel, James Joyce, Mary Lavin, Bernard MacLaverty, Bryan MacMahon, George Moore, Frank O'Connor, Julia O'Faolain, Sean O'Faolain, James Plunkett.
All the foregoing commenced their literary careers with short story collections and most of them with the addition of Edna O'Brien and William Trevor are internationally acknowledged masters of the form. Yet no prize for short fiction collections? Perhaps the present crop of exciting Irish writers of stories would be better off writing essays. - Yours, etc.,
Garville Road,
Dublin 6.