Sligo based Kevin Barry wins 2013 IMPAC award with 'City of Bohane'

'City of Bohane' by Kevin Barry is the winner of the 2013 International IMPAC DUBLIN Literary Award.

The €100,000 prize is the largest prize for a single novel published in English, and nominations are made by public libraries around the globe.

Irish-born Kevin Barry hails from Limerick and lives in Sligo, on Ireland’s west coast. He is the author of two award winning short story collections: City of Bohane is his first novel.

‘I’m thrilled to see an Irish author of such immense talent take home this year’s award. City of Bohane is a vivid, atmospheric portrayal of a city in the West of Ireland set in the future but mired in the past. The highly original cast of characters are at once flamboyant and malevolent, speaking in a vernacular like no other,’ said the Lord Mayor of Dublin and Patron of the Award, Naoise Ó Muirí, announcing the winner at a ceremony in Dublin’s Mansion House on 6th June. Kevin Barry received the trophy and a cheque for €100,000 at the presentation dinner following the announcement.

The winning novel beat off competition from 153 other titles, nominated by 160 libraries from 44 countries. It was first published in the UK by Jonathan Cape. The shortlist of ten novels, as chosen by an international panel of judges included novels from France, Iceland, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, the UK and the USA. Kevin Barry is the third Irish author to win the prize. It was awarded to Colm Tóibín in 2006 for The Master and to Colum McCann in 2011 for Let the Great World Spin.

Commenting on his win, Kevin Barry said: ‘The fact that this award originates with the libraries is what makes it very special for me – libraries are where we learn that we can live our lives through books.’