Five Irish novels have been nominated along with 137 other titles by libraries worldwide for the €100,000 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award.
Nominations include 49 novels in translation with works by 37 American, 19 British, nine Canadian, nine Australian and seven Italian authors.
The Irish titles are:
The Herbalist by Niamh Boyce, nominated by Galway County Library, Ireland.
The Guts by Roddy Doyle, nominated by Liverpool City Libraries, UK.
TransAtlantic by Colum McCann, nominated by Halifax Public Libraries, Canada; Dublin City Public Libraries, Ireland; Waterford City & County Libraries, Ireland; Liverpool City Libraries, UK; New Hampshire State Libraries, Concord, USA; The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, USA.
The Rising of Bella Casey by Mary Morrissy, nominated by Cork City Libraries and Dublin City Public Libraries, Ireland.
The Thing About December by Donal Ryan, nominated by Limerick City Library, Ireland.
Of the 142 books eligible for the 2015 award, 49 are titles in translation, spanning 16 languages and 29 are first novels.
Readers can pit themselves against the international panel of judges and pick their own favourite, before the Dublin Lord Mayor, Christy Burke, announces the twentieth winner on June 17, 2015.
Other novels nominated for the 2015 Award include The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan - winner of the 2014 Man Booker Prize - The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt - winner of the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction - and The Good Lord Bird by James McBride - winner of the 2013 National Book Award.
Among the 49 translated authors are French author Andreï Makine (born in Russia), Ma Jian (Chinese), Elena Ferrante (Italian), Eugen Ruge (German) and Jón Kalman Stefánsson (Icelandic).
For the first time, translated titles comprise more than a third of the longlist – 34.5%.
Two previous winners have also been nominated, 2011 winner Colum McCann and 1997 winner Javier Marías.
The libraries’ most popular book this year, and one of the most nominated books since the award began, is Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, chosen by 19 libraries in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand and the USA.
The full list of 142 titles is available on www.impacdublinaward.ie. The shortlist will be made public on April 15, 2015 and the Lord Mayor will announce the winner on June 17.