Shortlist for Irish novel prize announced

Five novels have been shortlisted for the 2019 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year at Listowel Writers’ Week, with a shared prize fund of €19,000, one of the biggest in Ireland.

More than 50 novels were submitted for this year’s Listowel Writers’ Week. The five shortlisted novels are: Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne (Penguin Ireland); The Hoarder by Jess Kidd (Canongate); The Cruelty Men by Emer Martin (Lilliput); Travelling in a Strange Land by David Park (Bloomsbury) and Normal People by Sally Rooney (Faber & Faber).