Sequel scoops top prize for Doyle

NOVELIST and screenwriter Roddy Doyle last night won the €10,000 Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award at the opening of Listowel Writers’ Week.

The former Booker Prize winner scooped the top prize for his novel, Paula Spencer, a sequel to his earlier best-seller, The Woman Who Walked into Doors.

Mr Doyle, 49, said he was “thrilled” to have won, but, as someone who guards his privacy closely, has mixed feelings about the value of literary festivals.