€100,000 prize for slavery novel

A NOVEL about slavery was named in Dublin yesterday as the €100,000 winner of the world’s largest literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English.

American author Edward P Jones scooped the 10th International Impac Dublin Literary Award for his first novel, The Known World.

The historical work, which explores the life of Henry Townsend, a former black slave who becomes a slave owner himself, won the Pulitzer Prize last year.

The book was described by the judges of the award as “a richly imagined novel in which a multitude of moral contradictions are revealed and explored”.

Mr Jones, 53, who received a standing ovation as he collected his award, said his heart was “soaring”.

“It’s wonderful, I never expected it,” he said.

He said he had only got off a plane from the United States a few hours earlier to attend the award ceremony at Dublin’s City Hall. “My belongings have been in a suitcase for a whole day, I got to the hotel room and took everything out and my suit was rumpled, my shirt was rumpled, but my heart is soaring.”

The writer said his inspiration came in college from learning about black slave owners.

Mr Jones, who is currently working on a book of short stories about Washington DC, said he appreciated winning an award which was nominated by libraries rather than book critics.

“I’m not one of those writers who writes for fortune and fame. I write because I can’t do anything else - I’m compelled to,” he said.

Asked how he would spend his prize money, he joked: “I’m going to buy some new socks.”

The international panel of judges, which included Irish poet and playwright Rita Ann Higgins and British novelist Jonathan Buckley, chose The Known World from a shortlist of 10 finalists from Canada, Germany, Holland, Norway, South Africa and the US, including three novels translated into English.

The 10 finalists were picked from a long list of 147 books nominated by 185 libraries in 51 countries around the world.

Three Irish writers, Martin Malone for The Broken Cedar, Gerard Donovan with Schopenhauer’s Telescope and Colum McCann for Dancer, were among the 147 novelists chosen but failed to make it through to the final 10.

Mr Jones was presented with the cheque for €100,000 by Impac chairman Dr James B Irwin and a Waterford Crystal trophy from the Lord Mayor of Dublin Michael Conaghan.

Introducing the 10th annual event, Deirdre Ellis King, Dublin city librarian, said it had become “one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world.”