Midlands poets and personalities feature in award-nominated books

Three books with connections to Westmeath and the midlands have been shortlisted for prestigious awards.

‘I Am the Wind. Irish Poems for Children Everywhere’ has been shortlisted for an Irish Book Award in the Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year – Senior category. Edited by Lucinda Jacob and Sarah Webb, and illustrated by Ashwin Chacko, the anthology includes a poem by Mullingar man Paul Timoney alongside the work of contemporary and classic poets such as WB Yeats, Eavan Boland and Seamus Heaney.

‘Black and Irish. Legends, Trailblazers and Everyday Heroes’ has also been shortlisted for an Irish Book Award in the International Education Services Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year category. Written by Leon Diop and Briana Fitzsimons, with artwork from Jessica Louis, this groundbreaking book is a celebration of Black Irish identity.

A nonfiction publication, it features prominent Black Irish people from the worlds of pop culture, politics, sport, business and the arts. Rosemount GAA star Boidu Sayeh is on the list of notable figures profiled, which includes Christine Buckley, Ruth Negga, Phil Lynott and Paul McGrath among others.

Clonard native Nancy Stewart is the subject of ‘Granny Nancy – The Lady Who Lived, Loved and Laughed for 107 Years’ by Louise Coghlan. Nancy became famous during the pandemic when she and her granddaughter Louise used social media to encourage people “not to panic” and to reassure them that “this worrying time would eventually pass”.

Granny Nancy was Ireland’s oldest woman at the time of her death, just one month short of her 108th birthday, in September 2021, just as the last of the lockdowns were lifting. The book is written by Nancy’s granddaughter and has been shortlisted for the Carousel Aware Prize in the Nonfiction category.

Now in its 18th year, the An Post Irish Book Awards promote Irish writing to the widest range of readers possible. Each year the awards bring together a community passionate about books – readers, authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians – to celebrate Irish writing talent.

The public are invited to have their say and cast their votes at anpostirishbookawards.ie/vote. Those who vote are entered into a prize draw to win one of five €100 National Book Tokens. Voting closes at 5pm on November 9. The winners are announced on November 22.

The Carousel Aware Prize for independent authors showcases the best Irish self-published books, bringing them to the attention of retailers, distributors and the media. All the money raised is donated to mental health charity Aware. The winners are announced on Wednesday November 3.