Dublin Literary Award

Which of this year’s 20 longlisted titles have you read so far? 📚
The Shortlist will be revealed on 7 April 2026. Stay tuned!

Find out more: https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/prize-years/2026/

Here's what nominating library Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon had to say about Brigitte Giraud's Live Fast, which is longlisted for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award.

"A poignant and deeply affecting book in which the author reflects on the tragedy that took her husband’s life many years ago."

Find out more about Brigitte Giraud's stunning novel here: dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/...

🧵 3/3

The narrator recounts the chain of events that led up to the accident, tracing the tiny twists of fate that might have prevented its tragic outcome. Each chapter asks the question What if?, and begins with a memory, from early years in Algeria through their move to the suburbs of Lyon.

🧵 2/3

Longlist spotlight: Live Fast by Brigitte Giraud ✨

Paced and structured with the inevitable suspense of a countdown, Brigitte Giraud’s tense and haunting novel follows one woman’s quest to comprehend the motorcycle accident that took the life of her partner, Claude, at age forty-one.

🧵 1/3

www.ibrowsebooks.com/dublinlitera...

"Ordinary Saints is a beautifully written novel. It's honest and deeply moving."

Many thanks to Jillian and Pete from Libraries NI (Northern Ireland) for telling us why they nominated Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award.

Here's what Liverpool Libraries & Information Service said about Intermezzo which they nominated for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award:

"Intermezzo is a masterclass in emotional precision and literary innovation, offering library readers a deeply resonant exploration of grief, love, and family bonds."

Here's what Redbridge Libraries had to say about Intermezzo by Sally Rooney which they nominated for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award:

"A truly wonderful novel and a funny page-turner about the derangements of grief. The theme of grief has supported our further work within our libraries."

Intermezzo was nominated by Redbridge Libraries and Liverpool Libraries & Information Services in England, and is published by Faber & Faber.

Find out more: dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/...

🧵 2/2

Longlist spotlight: Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. 📖✨

Brothers Peter and Ivan Koubek have little in common. After their father’s death, Peter, a lawyer, is torn between Sylvia and a younger student, while Ivan, a shy chess player, begins an intense relationship with an older woman, Margaret.

🧵 1/2

'Her Breath in Mine' | The Women of Seamus Heaney's Poetry In Celebration of International Women's Day

'Her Breath in Mine' | The Women of Seamus Heaney's Poetry

For International Women's Day at #SeamusHeaney: Listen Now Again, join us for an uplifting, thought‑provoking celebration of women.

📅 Sat, 7 March at 2pm:
https://www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/her-breath-mine-women-seamus-heaneys-poetry

Books published by the Royal Irish Academy

Celebrate World Book Day with us on 5 March! Use the code WorldBookDay to get 20% off any current titles on our website. The code can be used on any books ordered from shop.ria.ie until Sunday, 8 March.

Portrait of Susan Mary Yeats (Lily), (1866-1949), when a child, three-quarter length, turned to left, standing, looking down, reading, resting book on arm, wearing hat.

Happy #WorldBookDay! 📚

What was your favourite book when you were growing up? 📖💭

IMAGE: Portrait of Susan Mary Yeats (Lily) reading, drawn by her father #JohnButlerYeats; https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000151242

World Book Day: Children who take joy in reading are 'happier' people The Irish Children's Laureate is touring Northern Ireland to share the importance of reading and writing during World Book Day.

Speaking at the school ahead of World Book Day, Patricia Forde said children who are read to and pick up a book themselves "do better in school, better in life and, this is the killer, they are happier people."

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Universitätsbibliothek Bern on In Late Summer by Magdalena Blažević:

"A poetic and literarily innovative novel about a war that still has repercussions today. Blažević, who recently read in Bern, is undoubtedly one of the most important voices in Southeast European literature."

When a picturesque village is caught in the turmoil of war, the entire worlds of Ivana, Dunja and their families are blown up and swept away. Blažević‘s novel is poetic and powerful, full of images of ordinary life as well as the brutality of war.

⏩ dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/...

🧵 2/2

Our longlist spotlight continues with In Late Summer by Magdalena Blažević, translated from the Croatian by Anđelka Raguž ✨📚

In Late Summer is written from the perspective of a 14-year-old girl killed in the August 1993 massacre in Bosnia.

🧵 1/2

Ready to go! If you need fresh material for #IrelandReads day, we're here for you. Maybe try one of the @dublinlitaward.bsky.social longlist?

Here's what Cleveland Public Library had to say about Good Girl by Aria Aber:

"A coming-of-age story unlike any other. Underpinning her lyrical prose is a visceral pseudo autobiographical novel that reflects on a young woman’s struggles with sex, shame, family, beauty and power."

Next in our longlist is Good Girl by Aria Aber ✨
In Berlin’s underground, 19 year-old Nila, German born daughter of Afghan parents, seeks her own path. When she meets American writer Marlowe, his charm collides with rising racial tensions, forcing her to confront who she truly wants to be.

Here's what the Katona József Könyvtár library had to say about Gliff:

This is a dystopian novel set in the not-so-distant future. Mostly narrated by Briar, who looks back from an even darker future on the time when they were separated from their mother due to the actions of a totalitarian regime.

Ali Smith was born in Inverness in 1962. She is the author of several novels and short story collections including, The Accidental, Hotel World, How to Be Both and the Seasonal Quartet. She has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, has won the Goldsmiths Prize, Orwell Prize, and the Women’s Prize.

Longlist spotlight: Gliff by Ali Smith ✨
Once upon a time, not far from now, two children come home to find a line of red paint outside of their house. So it begins, the story of two kids and a horse called Gliff, on the run from history.

⏩ https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/gliff/

Maria Reva’s novel Endling was nominated by the Ottawa Public Library, which described the book as follows:

"Endling’s themes of global misogyny, climate change and war are timely and important; compelling characterizations and dark humour make it a thoroughly enjoyable read."

We continue our look at the 2026 longlist with Maria Reva's Endling. ✨
Set in Ukraine, a snail-breeding scientist joins two sisters searching for their activist mother as Russia invades, sending them on a journey of survival, love, and hope.
⏩ https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/endling

We continue our look at the 2026 longlist with Maria Reva's Endling. ✨
Set in Ukraine, a snail-breeding scientist joins two sisters searching for their activist mother as Russia invades, sending them on a journey of survival, love, and hope.
⏩ https://dublinliteraryaward.ie/the-library/books/endling

✨ The novel discusses ideas like displacement, identity crisis, love relationships, and mundane problems which give the book a universal dimension and not making it just about women but every man. (Bibliotheca Alexandrina)

✨ Dream Count reflects our readers’ need for diverse and authentic voices in literature. It also provides a stable ground for introspection in a time where the world feels a bit uncertain and people look for recognition and refuge. (Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam)

✨ What makes Dream Count especially compelling is how it speaks directly to the present moment. Adichie is a contemporary author deeply engaged with the world we live in today and which work resonates with the concerns of our time. (Almeida Garrett Municipal Library, Porto)