Professor Luke O’Neill Wins Popular Nonfiction Book of the Year Award

In the weirdest years, Donal Ryan’s Strange Flowers has been named Novel of the Year at tonight’s An Post Irish Book Awards, while Graham Norton’s Home Stretch won Popular Fiction Book of the Year. In a year in which our freedom of movement has been so restricted, both plots revolve around the central character’s ability to start over abroad before returning.

The awards ceremony, long the social highlight of the literary calendar, had to be reinvented this year due to the pandemic. While nominees, publishers and booksellers were unable to meet at a Dublin hotel, audiences around the world were able to see the ceremony hosted by Evelyn O’Rourke live for the first time on the RTÉ website. Having transported us to other worlds with his books in this terrible year, it feels bittersweet that the winners should now celebrate at home.

As the tide seems to be turning against the scorn of experts and the subversion of facts, it feels fitting that Never Mind the Boll *** s, Here the Science by Luke O’Neill, professor of biochemistry at Trinity College Dublin has been named Popular Non-Fiction Book of the Year.

A Ghost in the Throat of Doireann Ní Ghríofa is the non-fiction book of the year 2020, the powerful fabric of the poet’s own story with that of Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, the composer of Caoineadh Airt Uí Laoghaire, which Declanm Kiberd called the poem larger. written in Ireland or Great Britain during the 18th century. Perhaps an unlikely bestseller, it is also another notable success for his small publisher, Tramp Press, which, although founded in 2014, won Irish Book of the Year twice in three years for Notes too Self by Emilie Pine and Solar Bones by Mike McCormack. .

The Irish Book Awards are also a happy hunting ground for Ryan. His debut, The Spinning Heart, was voted newcomer and book of the year in 2012; The Thing about December (2013); Everything We Will Know (2016); and From a Low and Quiet Sea (2018) have been shortlisted as Novel of the Year; and A Slanting of the Sun won Short Story of the Year in 2015.

“I am really grateful to the people who took the time to vote for Strange Flowers,” Ryan said. “That’s the best thing about these awards: Readers decide the winners and readers are the reason we write.

“Strange Flowers is a very personal book about love, loss, family and identity, set in my heart and in my home. It is a privilege and an honor for me to have readers of something that means so much to me, and for readers to support it in this wonderful way.

“Books, like all art, offer an escape route, albeit temporary, from the relentlessness of this year of fear and isolation, and I am happy to have been able to offer a little break in the clouds for my readers.”

Ní Ghríofa said: “This award feels like a victory not only for me, but for Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, and for the lives of so many women whose stories are often not written. A Ghost in the Throat is the story of a search and a concern, in which a woman delves into the past, looking for the story of a woman who lived centuries before her.

“In such a difficult year, these awards are a shining light, a celebration of the publishers, booksellers, authors and, above all, of the readers, and of the books that have been taken to heart, and I am very grateful that A Ghost in the Throat is among them. This book wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Tramp Press. I will always be grateful to Sarah, Lisa and Laura for choosing it from their sleet pile, for believing in it, for publishing it so well, with the help of Fiachra, Marsha and Peter “

That Dara McAnulty was named Revelation of the Year should come as no surprise. The first author of the Diary of a Young Naturalist may be only 16 years old, but he is already an awards veteran at this stage, and has become the youngest winner of the UK Wainwright Prize for nature writing and the RSPB Medal. He was also the youngest to make the long list for the Baillie Gifford Nonfiction Award and to be shortlisted for the 2020 Books Are My Bag Readers’ Awards.

Louise O’Neill is not a newcomer, as she won 2014 Rookie of the Year award for her debut Only Ever Yours and 2015 Book of the Year for Asking for It, but she won Crime Fiction Book of the Year award. For After the Silence, his The First Detective Novel, from a short list with so much experience and talent, is an achievement.

Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan’s Champagne Football, his damning exposition of John Delaney’s costly reign at the FAI, deservedly won the Sports Book of the Year.

John Treacy, President of the Awards, said: “On behalf of the Irish Book Awards Board, I would like to congratulate all the winning authors. His work represents the best of Irish writing and, in a difficult year, his books have provided readers with great comfort and inspiration. Consider also the Irish booksellers who have suffered greatly during the running of the bulls and have continued in spite of everything.

“Ireland is blessed with many wonderful bookstores, chains and independents, so this Christmas, I urge readers to visit their local bookstores. Irish writers, Irish readers, Irish bookstores – there is an alliance that we can all support. “

The public cast more than 143,000 votes to select the winners in each category, 25% more than in 2019. Voting for the An Post Irish book of the year is now open at anpostirishbookawards.ie. The winner will be announced during the awards ceremony presented by Miriam O Callaghan on RTÉ One on December 10 at 10.15pm.

Debbie Byrne, CEO of An Post Retail, said: “This year more than ever has reminded us of the great enjoyment and benefits of reading. Throughout the year we have been very proud to be able to support independent Irish booksellers as they moved their businesses online. We look forward to continuing this support in the run-up to Christmas. We hope every Christmas stocking in the country contains a book. “

Peter Woods, Director of RTÉ Radio 1, said: “The response from our listeners to the An Post Irish Book Awards and our RTÉ Radio 1 Listeners’ Choice Award has been really positive again this year. In a difficult year in which Keelin passed away, I am truly happy that our listeners voted for A Light That Never Goes out, as did my RTÉ colleagues who knew and loved Keelin. “

The complete list of winners

Novel of the year
Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan (Doubleday Ireland)

Nonfiction Book of the Year
A ghost in the throat of Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Tramp Press)

Popular Fiction Book of the Year
Home Stretch by Graham Norton (Coronet)

Popular Nonfiction Book of the Year
Never Worry About Boll *** s, Here’s The Science From Luke O’Neill (Gill Books)

Newcomer of the year
Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty, illustrated by Barry Falls (Little Toller Books)

Sports Book of the Year
Champagne Football by Mark Tighe and Paul Rowan (Sandycove)

Crime Fiction Book of the Year
After the silence of Louise O’Neill (Quercus)

Book of the Year for Teens and Young Adults
Savage Her Reply by Deirdre Sullivan, illustrated by Karen Vaughan (Little Island Books)

Children’s Book of the Year – Senior
Breaking the mold by Sinéad Burke, illustrated by Natalie Byrne (Wren & Rook)

Children’s Book of the Year – Junior
The Great Irish Farm Book by Darragh McCullough, illustrated by Sally Caulwell (Gill Books)

Cookbook of the Year
Neven Maguire Weekday Meals in Minutes by Neven Maguire (Gill Books)

Irish language book of the year
Bone by Eoghan Mac Giolla Bhríde (Evolution)

Best Book of the Year Published in Ireland
Old Ireland in Color by John Breslin and Dr. Sarah-Anne Buckley (Merrion Press)

RTÉ Radio 1 Listeners’ Choice Award
A Light That Never Goes Out by Keelin Shanley (Gill Books)

Irish Poem of the Year
In the Museum of Bad Things Remember by Linda McKenna (In the Museum of Bad Things Remember published by Doire Press)

Short story of the year award
I ate it all and really thought I wouldn’t by Caoilinn Hughes (LitHub)