Fiction writers Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie have been nominated for this year’s Dublin Lit Award. Shamsie has been shortlisted for Home Fire and Hamid for Exit West.
Presented every year to a novel written in or translated into English, Dublin Lit Award’s aim is to promote the outstanding works in the field of world literature.
Kamila Shamsie’s seventh novel Home Fire, winner of Women's Prize for Fiction 2018, is a rework of Greek Myth Antigone in a contemporary setting.
Exit West, the Aspen Words Literary Prize 2018 winner, is Mohsin Hamid’s fourth novel that tells a story about immigration and refugee problems.
Among the other nominees, one of the frontrunners is George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo, which was the recipient of the 2017 Man Booker Prize. The book blends historical fiction, experimental prose and magic realism within its pages.
Other nominees include French author Mathias Enard for his book Compass, Ireland’s Sally Rooney for Conversations with Friends and Northern Irish author Bernard MacLaverty for Midwinter Break. Also from the US, Emily Fridlund has been nominated for History with Wolves and Emily Ruskovich for Idaho. British novelists Jon McGregor and Rachel Seiffert have also made it to the list for their books Reservoir 13 and A Boy in Winter respectively.
The winning author of a book written in English receives €100,000, while, for a book translated into English, the author and the translator respectively share 75% and 25% of the prize money.
The Dublin Lit Award is administrated by Dublin City’s public library service. It is sponsored by Dublin City Council, and the municipal government of Dublin.
