Local authors on shortlist for An Post Irish Book Awards

Una Leonard and Seán Farrell are among the authors shortlisted in the An Post Irish Book Awards 2025.

The winners will be announced at awards ceremony in the Convention Centre Dublin on Thursday November 27, and a programme announcing the overall ‘An Post Irish Book of the Year’ winner will be broadcast on RTÉ One on Thursday December 11.

On her Instagram page, Una Leonard said she is “absolutely honoured to be nominated for another An Post Irish Book Awards with an incredible bunch”.

The ‘Best Short Story’ and ‘Best Poetry’ award categories continue their partnership with the Irish Independent’s New Irish Writing competition, introduced last year.

Formerly known as the Hennessy Literary Awards, New Irish Writing has been a platform for unpublished writers since its establishment in 1968, helping to launch the careers of numerous Irish literary stars including Colum McCann, Anne Enright, Joseph O’Connor, and Claire Keegan.

The monthly winners are published on the last Saturday of each month, online and in the Review supplement of the Irish Independent.

The shortlist of six for the Short Story and Poetry categories was selected from the monthly winners by Ciaran Carty, editor of New Irish Writing since 1988, and associate editor Dermot Bolger.

The overall winners of both categories will be chosen by novelist and screenwriter Eoin McNamee and critically acclaimed poet Enda Wyley.

Along with the trophy, the winners of the Best Short Story and Best Poetry categories receive a special Irish Book Awards Scholarship at the Irish Writers Centre.

That includes a package of supports to help develop their writing careers, featuring a combination of mentoring, courses, and membership to the Centre.

Other categories include Novel of the Year, Best Irish-Published, Children’s (Junior and Senior), History, Newcomer, Lifestyle, Crime Fiction, Biography, Popular Fiction, Non-Fiction, Sports, Teen and Young Adult and Irish Language.

Cast your vote

The public are now being asked to have their say and cast their votes for the best books of the year on the An Post Irish Book Awards website.

All voters will be entered in a prize draw to win one of five €100 National Book Tokens vouchers. Voting closes at 6pm on Sunday November 16.

An Post Irish Book Awards 2025 Shortlist

Eason Novel of the Year

• Conversation with the Sea – Hugo Hamilton (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Fun and Games – John Patrick McHugh (Fourth Estate, HarperCollins)

• Let Me Go Mad in My Own Way – Elaine Feeney (Harvill, Penguin)

• Nesting – Roisín O’Donnell (Scribner Bools from Simon and Schuster)

• The Benefactors – Wendy Erksine (Sceptre)

• The Boy from the Sea – Garrett Carr (Picador, Pan MacMillan)

• The Ghosts of Rome – Joseph O’Connor (Harvill, Penguin)

• Venetian Vespers – John Banville (Faber)

TheJournal.ie Best Irish-Published Book of the Year

• An Irish Word a Day – Hector Ó hEochagáin (Gill Books)

• For and against a united Ireland – Fintan O’Toole and Sam McBride (Published by Royal Irish Academy and commissioned by the ARINS project)

• Midwinter: A Journey Through a Season – Michael Harding, illustrated by Enagh Farrell (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun) – Manchán Mangan, illustrated by Megan Luddy (Gill Books)

• Sunday Miscellany: A Selection 2023-2025 – Edited by Sarah Binchy (New Island Books)

• The GAA Covered – John Kelly (Gill Books)

Hodges Figgis History Book of the Year

• Burn Them Out!: A history of Fascism and the Far Right in Ireland – Pádraig Óg Ó Ruairc (Apollo, Head of Zeus)

• Charlie vs Garret: The rivalry that shaped modern Ireland – Eoin O’Malley (Eriu)

• Great Irish Wives – Nicola Pierce (The O’Brien Press)

• Ireland: Mapping the Island – Joseph Brady and Paul Ferguson (Birlinn)

• The Dublin Pub: A Social and Cultural History – Donal Fallon (New Island Books)

• Wrong Women – Caroline West (Eriu)

Dubray Biography of the Year

• A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing – Sarah Corbett Lynch (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Miriam: Life, Work, Everything – Miriam O’Callaghan (Sandycove, Penguin)

• She Died Young: A Life in Fragments – Brenda Fricker (Apollo, Head of Zeus)

• Speaking My Mind – Leo Varadkar (Sandycove, Penguin)

• Still – A Memoir – Julia Kelly (New Island Books)

• The Bass Player: Surviving the Miami Showband Massacre – Stephen Travers with Yvonne Watterson (New Island Books)

Irish Book Week Non-Fiction Book of the Year

• Catastrophe: Nakba II – Fintan Drury (Merrion Press)

• Deadly Silence: A Sister’s Battle to Uncover the Truth Behind the Murder of Clodagh and Her Sons by Alan Hawe – Jacqueline Connolly with Kathryn Rogers (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Dynasty: Scandals, Triumph, Turmoil and Succession at the heart of Dunnes Stores – Matt Cooper (Eriu)

• The Bailout Babies – Adam Maguire (Gill Books)

• The Lie of the Land: A Game Plan for Ireland in Climate Crisis – John Gibbons (Sandycove, Penguin)

• The Secret Life of Leinster House – Gavan Reilly (Gill Books)

Bookstation Lifestyle Book of the Year

• Donal’s Real Time Recipes – Donal Skehan (Yellow Kite)

• Good Together: Delicious Recipes for the Moments that Matter – Una Leonard (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Make and Freeze – Lou Robbie (Michael Joseph, Penguin)

• Sophie’s Swaps – Sophie Morris (Gill Books)

• The Walking Effect – Karl Henry (Gill Books)

• Light Up – Miriam Hussey (Gill Books)

Eason Sports Book of the Year

• Cloud Nine: My Life in Rugby – Conor Murray with Tommy Conlon (Reach Sport)

• Heart on My Sleeve – Andrew Porter (Eriu)

• Ó Sé – Marc O Sé with Adrian Russell (Gill Books)

• The Changing Game: The Past, Present and Future of Football – Martin O’Neill, with Joey D’Urso (Headline, Hachette Books Ireland)

• The Only Way I Know: The Autobiography – Andy Farrell (Sandycove, Penguin)

• The Race – David Gillick with Cathal Dennehy (Gill Books)

The Last Word Listeners’ Choice Award

• A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing – Sarah Corbett Lynch (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Intensive Care: True Stories of Healing, Heartache and Hope from Inside Irish Children’s Medicine – Dr Suzanne Crowe (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Nesting – Roisín O’Donnell (Scribner Books from Simon and Schuster)

• Old Parish: Notes on Hurling – Ciarán Murphy (Sandycove, Penguin)

• The Gaeilge Guide: Spark Your Connection to the Irish Language and Legacy – Mollie Guidera (Hachette Books Ireland)

• The Ghosts of Rome – Joseph O’Connor (Harvill, Penguin)

Library Association of Ireland Author of the Year

• Colm Tóibín

• Donal Ryan

• Elaine Feeney

• John Boyne

• Roisín O’Donnell

• Sarah Maria Griffin

Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year

• Every One Still Here – Liadan Ní Chuinn (The Stinging Fly)

• Show Me Where It Hurts – Claire Gleeson (Sceptre)

• Frogs for Watchdogs – Seán Farrell (New Island Books)

• Oddbody – Rose Keating (Canongate)

• Sugartown – Caragh Maxwell (Oneworld)

• The Compound – Aisling Rawle (The Borough Press, HaperCollins)

• The Wardrobe Department – Elaine Garvey (Canongate)

• Thirst Trap – Gráinne O’Hare (Picador, Pan Macmillan)

The Book Centre Crime Fiction Book of the Year in association with The Irish Independent

• Burn After Reading – Catherine Ryan Howard (Bantam, Transworld)

• Fair Play – Louise Hegarty (Picador, Pan MacMillan)

• It Should Have Been You – Andrea Mara (Bantam, Transworld)

• The Killing Sense – Sam Blake (Corvus, Atlantic Books)

• The Secret Room – Jane Casey (Hemlock, HarperCollins)

• The Stolen Child – Carmel Harrington (Headline Review)

• The Stranger Inside – Amanda Cassidy (Canelo Crime)

• Two Kinds of Stranger – Steve Cavanagh (Headline)

WHSmith Popular Fiction Book of the Year in association with Ireland AM

• Before Dorothy – Hazel Gaynor (Harper Fiction, HaperCollins)

• City Girls Forever – Patricia Scanlan (Simon and Schuster)

• Moving On – Roisin Meaney (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Our Song – Anna Carey (Hachette Books Ireland)

• Paper Heart – Cecelia Ahern (Harper Fiction, HaperCollins)

• Releasing 10 – Chloe Walsh (Piatkus, Little, Brown Book Group)

• Such a Good Couple – Sophie White (Hachette Books Ireland)

• The In-Laws – Sinéad Moriarty (Sandycove, Penguin)

Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year – Junior

• An Fia sa Choill – Sadhbh Devlin illustrated by Anastasia Melynkova (Futa Fata)

• Badger Books – Paddy Donnelly (The O’Brien Press)

• Don’t Trust Fish! – Neil Sharpson, illustrated by Dan Santat (Anderson Press)

• Ellora McGee, Trainee Banshee – Sinéad O’Hart, illustrated by Úna Woods (Gill Books)

• Letters to a Monster – Patricia Forde, illustrated by Sarah Warburton (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)

• Once I Was a Tree – Eoin McLaughlin, illustrated by Guilherme Karsten (Nosy Crow)

• Penguin TV – Niamh Sharkey and Owen Churcher (Gill Books)

• Run Home, Little Fox – Tom McCaughren and Erika McGann, illustrated by Shannon Bergin (The O’Brien Press)

Specsavers Children’s Book of the Year – Senior

• Animalopedia – Kathi and John Burke (Gill Books)

• Tales of Darkisle Book One: Conn of the Dead – Dave Rudden, illustrated by Ali Al Amine (Gill Books)

• Granny National – Rachael Blackmore, with Rachel Pierce and illustrated by Tom Snape (Sandycove, Penguin)

• Milly McCarthy and the Haunted House HullaBOOloo! – Leona Forde illustrated by Karen Harte (Gill Books)

• Nina Peanut Epic World Tour Era – Sarah Bowie (Scholastic)

• The Doomsday Club – Kevin Moran (The O’Brien Press)

International Education Services Teen and Young Adult Book of the Year, in honour of John Treacy

• Any Way You Slice It – Méabh McDonnell (The O’Brien Press)

• Matched Up – Jenny Ireland (Penguin)

• My Name is Jodie Jones – Emma Shevah (David Fickling Books)

• Solo – Gráinne O’Brien (Little Island Books)

• Shipshock – Caroline O’Donoghue (Walker Books)

• The Rebel and the Rose – Catherine Doyle (Simon and Schuster)

Gradam Love Leabhar Gaeilge Leabhar Ficsin Gaeilge na Bliana

• An Bhlaosc sa mBois – Michéal Ó Conghaile (Cló Iar-Chonnacht)

• Bódléar – Darach Ó Scolaí (Leabhar Breac)

• Fiche – Colm Ó Ceallacháin (Leabhar Breac)

• Scéalta Nollag – Alan Titley, maisithe ag Firas Aldakkak (LeabhairCOMHAR)

New Irish Writing Best Short Story in association with the Irish Independent

• Carnations – Lorraine Courtney

• Glass Splinters – Kieran Marsh

• Breathing Lessons – Sylvia Caldwell

• That Little Tent of Blue – Mary Shovelin

• All the Birch Trees Were Waving – Pádhraic Quinn

• A Constriction – Eamon McGuinness

New Irish Writing Best Poetry in association with the Irish Independent

• ‘There’s never a crowd at the poetry section’ – Vincent Barton

• ‘The Tragedy of It’ – Kevin O’Farrell

• ‘The Crows’ and ‘The Leaf’ – Paul McMahon

• ‘Minimum Wage’, ‘South-Eastern Wind’ and ‘Midnight Oil’ – Joanne McCarthy

• ‘Rowan’s furniture. Dublin 1965’ and ‘Carousel’ – Nollaig Rowan

• ‘I Remember Stealing’ and ‘The Visitor’ – Bronagh Mallon

An Post Bookshop of the Year (in alphabetical order)

• Antonia’s Bookstore, Trim, County Meath

• Chapters Bookstore, Dublin 1

• Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, County Galway

• The Company of Books, Ranelagh, Dublin 6

• Liber Bookshop, Sligo Town

• The Maynooth Bookshop, County Kildare