Revealed: Maggie O’Farrell and the late Manchán Magan feature in Irish Book Awards 2026 shortlist
Novels by Manchán Magan and Maggie O'Farrell are shortlisted for the Irish Book Awards
The An Post Irish Book Awards has unveiled its shortlist across all categories for 2026, with celebrated writers like Maggie O’Farrell and Djamel White nominated for novel of the year.
The awards celebrate the best of Irish books, writers, illustrators and bookshops, and this year the 19 categories are filled with exciting names and novels.
In contention for novel of the year are Maggie O’Farrell for Louise Kennedy for Booker-longlisted Djamel White for Donal Ryan for Kathleen MacMahon for Sebastian Barry for Jan Carson for and John Boyne for
The best Irish-published book of the year shortlist sees the late Manchán Magan honoured for competing against edited by Orlaith McBride and John Gibney, by Siobhán Doyle, edited by Molly Hennigan, by Kerby A. Miller and Breandán Mac Suibhne, and by Gordon D’Arcy.
Recent ieStyle Live speakers Louise O’Neill and Katriona O’Sullivan are nominated too, with O’Neill’s memoir nominated for biography of the year and Katriona O’Sullivan’s latest biography nominated for The Last Word’s listener’s choice award.
Several Munster authors are shortlisted across the categories, including Doireann Ní Ghríofa and Sara Baume who are in the mix for non-fiction book of the year for and respectively, with Ní Ghriofa also nominated for author of the year. Cork comedian Kyla Cobbler is shortlisted for lifestyle book of the year for her memoir while Peter O’Mahony and Simon Zebo face off for sports book of the year for their biographies, and Michelle McDonagh's is shortlisted for crime fiction book of the year.
“This year’s An Post Irish Book Awards shortlist is a wonderful reflection of the depth and diversity of talent across Irish writing,” says awards chairperson Sinéad McCorry.
“It is fantastic to see such a strong mix of established and new writers represented across the categories, alongside the publishers, illustrators and booksellers who play such an important role in bringing these stories to readers.”
Beyond literature, the shortlist for bookshop of the year features Bridge Books (Down), Charlie Byrne's Bookshop (Galway), O’Mahony's Booksellers (Limerick), Tales for Tadpoles (Wicklow), The Book Centre (Waterford), and Woodbine Books (Kildare).
The public can also vote for their favourite books of the year on the An Post Irish Book Awards website, with all voters entered into a prize draw to win one of five €100 National Book Tokens.
Voting closes at 6pm on Friday, November 13.
A one-hour television special, hosted by Oliver Callan, will be broadcast on RTÉ One on December 10, focusing on the six finalists for the overall book of the year 2026, culminating in the reveal of this year's overall winner.
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Land – Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press)
Stations – Louise Kennedy (Bloomsbury Circus)
All Them Dogs – Djamel White (John Murray)
Where Are the Kings – Donal Ryan (Doubleday)
Other People’s Lives – Kathleen MacMahon (Sandycove)
The Newer World – Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber)
Few and Far Between – Jan Carson (Doubleday)
The Weight of Angels – John Boyne (Doubleday)
Seeing What’s Hidden – Manchán Magan (Gill Books)
The Story of Us: Independent Ireland and the 1926 Census - Edited by Orlaith McBride and John Gibney (Irish Academic Press)
Irish Sport in 100 Objects – Siobhán Doyle (Merrion Press)
An Asylum for My Affections – Sketches of Maeve Brennan – Edited by Molly Hennigan (New Island Books)
A Letter Home - Kerby A. Miller and Breandán Mac Suibhne (Gill Books)
Birdstyle – Gordon D’Arcy (Dingle Publishing)
The Plot Against Ireland – Myles Dungan (Apollo)
The Story of Us: Independent Ireland and the 1926 Census - Edited by Orlaith McBride and John Gibney (Irish Academic Press)
A History of Ireland in 100 Stamps – Max Barrett (The O’Brien Press)
A Rebel and a Traitor – Rory Carroll (HarperNonFiction)
Catalpa – Michael B. Barry (Gill Books)
The Fallen: The Magdalene Laundries and Ireland’s Legacy of Silence – Louise Brangan (Vintage Publishing)
Home Economics: A Memoir – Caitríona Lally (New Island Books)
John McGahern: A Writing Life – Frank Shovlin (Faber & Faber)
No One Tells You: The Last Years of Edna O’Brien – Carlo Gébler (New Island Books)
Charles Haughey: Glory, Greed and Guns – Vincent Browne (Eriu)
Talk to Joe: Life, Liveline and Me – Joe Duffy (Hachette Books Ireland)
A Bigger Life – Louise O’Neill (HarperCollins)
Not the Perfect Victim – Nikita Hand with Kathryn Rogers (Hachette Books Ireland)
Seán Lemass: The Lost Memoir – Edited by Ronan McGreevy (Eriu)
Said the Dead – Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Faber and Faber)
The Most Normal Woman: Essays on Appearances – Roisín Kiberd (Tramp Press)
Opening Night – Sara Baume (Granta Books)
This is Also a Love Story: Searching for Good in a Divided World – Sally Hayden (4th Estate)
A Sheepdog Named Oscar – Dara Waldron (Simon & Schuster)
A Hosting: Interviews with Irish Writers 1991– 2026 – Martin Doyle (The Lilliput Press)
Best of Ireland – Cassie Stokes (DK Books)
Sophie’s Swaps Homemade Wins – Sophie Morris (DK Books)
Finding Joy – Dearbhla Mescal (Eriu)
Happy, Thank You. More, Please: How I got grateful, stayed mortified, and learned to trust the universe – Kyla Cobbler (Hachette Books Ireland)
Eva Pau’s Asian Cookbook – Eva Pau (Murdoch Books)
Now You Are Wonderful: A Celebration of Age, Freedom and Wisdom – Mary Kennedy (Hachette Books Ireland)
My Greatest Race – Ciara Mageean with Clíona Foley (Gill Books)
All In – Peter O’Mahony with Dion Fanning (Sandycove)
The Lost Sportswriter – Vincent Hogan (Gill Books)
Mackey and Ring – Arthur James O’Dea (Gill Books)
The Walls – James McClean with Daniel McDonnell (Sandycove)
Zeebs: My Autobiography – Simon Zebo with Gerry Thornley (Eriu)
Stations – Louise Kennedy (Bloomsbury Circus)
Land – Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press)
Experts in a Dying Field – Patrick Freyne (Sandycove)
Be Like the Sea – Marie Gleeson with Orlaith Carmody (Gill Books)
White Lines – Ryan Caldwell with Peter Lockhart (Hachette Books Ireland)
Brian Cowen: Anatomy of a Taoiseach – Gary Murphy (Eriu)
Hungry: A Biography of My Body – Katriona O’Sullivan (Hachette Books Ireland)
Imitation Games: How Gambling Hijacked Sport – Darragh McGee (Vintage Publishing)
Colm Tóibín – The News from Dublin (Picador)
Doireann Ní Ghríofa – Said the Dead (Faber and Faber)
Liz Nugent – The Truth About Ruby Cooper (Sandycove)
Paddy Donnelly – The Upside-Down Lighthouse (The O’Brien Press)
P.J. Lynch – Deerheart (Walker)
Sally Hayden – This is Also a Love Story: Searching for Good in a Divided World (4th Estate)
All Them Dogs – Djamel White (John Murray)
Esther is Now Following You – Tanya Sweeney (Bantam)
The Visit – Neil Tully (Eriu)
The Ballad of Ronan McCoy – Colin Morgan (HarperCollins)
Wild Iris – Ruth McKee (Dedalus Ireland)
Somewhere – Jessamine O’Connor (The Lilliput Press)
The Lies Between Us – Jen Bray (Sandycove)
Dirtpickers – Edie May Hand (Manilla)
The Truth About Ruby Cooper – Liz Nugent (Sandycove)
Everything She Didn’t Say – Jane Casey (Hemlock Press)
One of Us Is Guilty – Steve Cavanagh (Headline)
Such a Nice Girl – Andrea Mara (Bantam)
In Glass Houses – Edel Coffey (Sphere)
The Keeper – Tana French (Viking)
Never to be Found – Jo Spain (Zaffre)
If These Walls Could Talk – Michelle McDonagh (Hachette Books Ireland)
A Nation Once Again – Paul Howard (Sandycove)
The Expectation – A. O’Connor (Andrew O’Connor) (Poolbeg Press)
Love Scene – Anna Carey (Hachette Books Ireland)
Our Deadly Summer – Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen (Bloomsbury Publishing)
The Mini Breakers – Lucy Kennedy (Eriu)
Love Unlocked – Cecelia Ahern (HarperFiction)
A Plot to Die For – Ardal O’Hanlon (Simon & Schuster)
Anywhere But Here – Vicki Notaro (Sandycove)
The Upside-Down Lighthouse – Paddy Donnelly (The O’Brien Press)
Letters to a Giant – Patricia Forde, illustrated by Sarah Warburton (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
I Am Not a Dog – Peter Donnelly (Gill Books)
Swim, Little Otter – Tom McCaughren and Erika McGann, illustrated by Shannon Bergin (The O’Brien Press)
Rabbit and Bear: The Bog of Frogs – Julian Gough, illustrated by Jim Field (Orchard Books)
The Starmaker – Catherine Doyle, illustrated by Paddy Donnelly (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
Little Passenger – Deirdre Sullivan, illustrated by Jessica Love (Walker Books)
An Peata is Fearr – Patricia Forde, illustrated by Philip Cullen (Futa Fata)
Deerheart – Eoin Colfer, illustrated by P.J. Lynch (Walker)
Millie McCarthy and the Doggy Daycare Drama – Leona Forde, illustrated by Karen Harte (Gill Books)
Minotaur Boy - Shane Hegarty, illustrated by Ruby Fresson (DK Books)
Murder at the Ivy Hotel – Emily Hourican (Scholastic)
Nina Peanut: Major Drama Alert (Book 4) – Sarah Bowie (Scholastic)
A Timeline of Irish History – Myles Dungan, illustrated by Sol Linero (Gill Books)
Death Before Detention – Alison Weatherby, illustrated by Ellen Porteus (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Epic Ireland – Kieran Fanning, illustrated by Alice Guidi (Gill Books)
Effie is Offline – Karen Harte (Gill Books)
Shorelines – Ruth Ennis (Little Island Books)
Runaway Road – Sue Divin (First Ink)
Her Hidden Fire – Clíodhna O’Sullivan (Penguin)
They Called Us Witch – Ellen Ryan, illustrated by Imogen Oh and Anastasia Stefurak (Harper Fire)
From the Top, Sally Flynn – Méabh Collins (The O’Brien Press)
Just Another Dead Boy – Kelly McCaughrain (Walker Books)
Tom Burne Has Left the Chat – Seán Farrelly (Faber Children’s)
Faraor Géar nár Cailleadh Mé - Micheál Ó Conghaile (Cló lar-Chonnacht)
Rúnaí an Aire - Brian Ó Tiomáin (Cló lar-Chonnacht)
Eoghan Béal - Darach Ó Scolaí, ealaín le Alé Mercado (Leabhar Breac)
Sí - Seán Ó Muireagáin (Éabhlóid)
An Cláirseoir - Diarmuid Johnson (Leabhar Breac)
Starfish Don’t Have Bodies – Fiona Ennis
Burnt – Jacinta Cogan
Carlos – Eamon O’Riordan
A Day in the Life – Ben Dillon
‘Abundance’ and ‘The Trouble with Home’ – Noel Howley
‘Mother / Father’ and ‘The Gift of Snow’ – John Kenny
‘Bring Up’ – Emma Beard
‘Rhiannon’ and ‘The North’ – Kevin Cahill
Bridge Books, Down
Charlie Byrne's Bookshop, Galway
O'Mahony's Booksellers, Limerick
Tales for Tadpoles, Wicklow
The Book Centre, Waterford
Woodbine Books, Kildare
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