Sally Rooney among authors longlisted for €100k Dublin Literary Award

It is the world's most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English
Sally Rooney among authors longlisted for €100k Dublin Literary Award

Sally Rooney has been longlisted too for Intermezzo

Two Irish writers are among 20 authors longlisted for a literary prize with €100,000.

Debut novelist Niamh Ní Mhaoleoin has been longlisted for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award with her novel  Ordinary Saints, which was nominated by Libraries Northern Ireland. Sally Rooney has been longlisted too for  Intermezzo, which was nominated by Redbridge and Liverpool Libraries in the UK.

The Dublin Literary Award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, is the world's most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English and longlisted titles are nominated by librarians and readers from a network of libraries around the world. It is worth €100,000 to the winner, or for a translated novel, the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.  

Last year, the award went to Michael Crummey for his novel The Adversary.

“At the heart of this award are libraries and their readers dotted across the world unified through a culturally rich reading experience,” says Mairéad Owens, Dublin City Librarian.

The 2026 longlist features well-known international authors, including award-winning writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Alan Hollinghurst and Ocean Vuong.

Ocean Vuong's novel The Emperor of Gladness is longlisted. Picture: Jade Greene/WWD via Getty Images
Ocean Vuong's novel The Emperor of Gladness is longlisted. Picture: Jade Greene/WWD via Getty Images

“From themes of war to coming of age, family dramas and dark humour, the list is one for readers to explore the excellence of world storytelling,” says Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Ray McAdam, who is a patron of the award.

The full longlist of 20 novels includes:

  • Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner; 
  • Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; 
  • Endling by Maria Reva; 
  • Gliff by Ali Smith; 
  • Good Girl by Aria Aber; 
  • In Late Summer by Madalena Blažević; 
  • Intermezzo by Sally Rooney; 
  • Live Fast by Brigitte Giraud; 
  • Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoileoin; 
  • Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst; 
  • Perspectives by Laurent Binet; 
  • The Antidote by Karen Russell; 
  • The Brittle Age by Donatella Di Pietrantonio; 
  • The Creation of Half-Broken People by Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu; 
  • The Echoes by Evie Wyld; 
  • The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong; 
  • The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk; 
  • The Original Daughter by Jemimah Wei; 
  • There are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak; 
  • What I Know About You by Éric Chacour.

A shortlist will be announced on Tuesday, April 7 and the overall winner will be announced by the Lord Mayor of Dublin on Thursday,  May 21, as part of International Literature Festival Dublin.

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