NH 2026 Dublin Nominee Selected

The NH Dublin Committee has selected The Antidote by Karen Russell as our nominee for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award. 

"Interspersed with photographs, it tells the multi-faceted story of a Dust Bowl community from many different angles. It is a wonderfully strange and powerful book about memory and responsibility." --NH Dublin committee member

Books which are nominated for the Award by public libraries from around the world must meet the following criteria:

•  Titles must be works of fiction
•  Titles must demonstrate high literary merit (as determined by the nominating library)
•  Titles must be first published in original English or first published in English translation between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025. 

The NH Dublin committee has already begun reading for the 2027 award which we anticipate will cover works of fiction published in English between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026. 

Dublin Literary Award Winner 2025

The Adversary by Michael Crummey has been selected as the winner of the 2025 Dublin Literary Award.

About the Book:

In an isolated outport on Newfoundland’s northern coastline, a ruthless act of sabotage is the opening salvo in a battle between the man and woman who own Mockbeggar’s largest mercantile firms, each fighting for the scarce resources of the north Atlantic fishery, each seeking a measure of revenge on the person they despise most in the world. As their unshakeable animosity spirals further each year, the community is increasingly divided and even the innocents in Mockbeggar find themselves forced to take sides, with devastating consequences. The Adversary is a dark, enthralling novel about love and its limitations, the corruption of power and the power of corruption. --Publisher's blurb

2025 Dublin Award Shortlist

 The shortlist for the 2025 Dublin Literary Award was announced recently. 

Dublin Longlist 2025

The Dublin Literary Award 2025 Longlist featuring 71 books nominated by 83 libraries (including NHSL) from 34 countries around the world has been announced. 

The shortlist will be announced on March 25, 2025 and the winning book on May 22, 2025.

NH 2025 Dublin Nominee Selected

The NH Dublin Committee has selected The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon as our latest nominee for the Dublin Literary Award. 

"Based on the life and diary of Martha Ballard, an 18th-century midwife, this is a beautifully written page-turner of a novel that examines the roles of women and the relationships among the residents of a small Maine community with grace and insight." --NH Dublin committee member

American Experience did an episode about the woman this novel was based on. 

To be eligible for the 2025 award a title had to have been published in English between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024. The NH Dublin committee has already begun reading for the 2026 award which we anticipate will cover works of fiction published in English between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025.

Dublin Shortlist 2024

The shortlist for the 2024 Dublin Literary Award was announced recently.

Dublin Longlist 2024

The Dublin Award 2024 Longlist featuring 70 books nominated by 80 libraries (including NHSL) from 35 countries around the world has been announced. 

The shortlist will be announced on March 26, 2024 and the winning book on May 23, 2024.

NH 2024 Dublin Nominee Selected

The NH Dublin Committee has selected Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver as our latest nominee for the Dublin Literary Award. 

"Demon Copperhead cleverly re-imagines Dickens’s story, David Copperfield in a modern-day rural American South, wrought with hunger, cruelty and addiction. Despite the constant challenges life throws at Demon, his resiliency and determination to survive overpower any obstacle he faces.This is a coming of age story of hope that all should consider as a rallying cry for America’s concern for its lower classes." --NHSL nomination 

To be eligible for the 2024 award a title had to have been published in English between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023. 

The NH committee has already begun reading for the 2025 award which we anticipate will cover works of fiction published in English between 1 July 2023 and 30 June 2024.

 

 

Dublin Literary Award Winner 2021

  

The Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli has been selected as the winner of the 2021 Dublin Literary Award.

Dublin Shortlist Announced

Six titles were chosen this time for the International Dublin Literary Award shortlist, including our nominee. Hurray for Colson Whitehead!

2021 Dublin Nominees

 The NH Dublin Committee has selected its nominees for the 2021 Dublin Literary Award. These are fictional works of high literary merit published in English during 2019. After reading and discussing many excellent books, the committee selected these titles for nomination:

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See.  “Lisa See addresses the complicated history of 20th century Korea through a tale of the women of Jeju, whose livelihood is destroyed by war and its degradation of the sea as well as the countryside. Her voice is clear and unsentimental, her breadth of knowledge deep, and her characters both universal and unique.”

The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead.  “The Nickel Boys is a compelling backdrop to the destructive power and persistence of racism in the United States. It is often gut-wrenching to read and heartbreaking to contemplate. But it is also inspiring--a testament to human endurance, friendship and resilience." 

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. “This epistolary novel beautifully captures the pain and paradox of the immigrant experience through the poetic language of a young Vietnamese boy growing up in Hartford, Ct.”

Dublin Winner Announced

American author Emily Ruskovich has won the 2019 International DUBLIN Literary Award for her novel Idaho. The Award is organized and sponsored by Dublin City Council and at €100,000 is the world’s largest prize for a single novel published in English. Emily Ruskovich is the fourth American author to win the prize in its 24-year history.
The winning book was selected from the titles nominated by libraries around the world, including the NH State Library.

2020 Dublin Nominees

The NH Dublin Committee has selected its nominees for the 2020 Dublin Literary Award. These are fictional works of high literary merit published in English during 2018. After reading and discussing many excellent books, the committee selected these titles for nomination:

 

Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

A sweeping 19^th-century adventure tale with a modern twist, told from the point of view of an eleven-year-old slave named Washington Black who becomes free while under the care of an eccentric explorer, inventor, naturalist, and abolitionist. What does it mean to be captive? What is true freedom? These are some of the questions posed in this tale of re-invention and redemption.

Virgil Wander by Leif Enger

Virgil Wander is a delightful novel, written with warmth and charm.  It’s full of strange events and quirky characters, but it also captures the way people in a small community care for each other, even as that community materially declines.

There There by Tommy Orange

There There comes from a viewpoint we don’t often see represented in fiction: that of the "Urban Indian."  Author Tommy Orange takes us inside the minds of a set of characters that in some ways could not be more different, but who are all trying to figure out how to balance connection to their cultural heritage with the demands of modern life.

NOTE: Tommy Orange will be at The Music Hall in Portsmouth as part of Writers' on a New England Stage on Thursday, May 16, 2019.