Cork authors win Irish Book of Year awards

CORK authors Mary White and William Murray were among the winners at last night’s 2018 An Post Irish Book Awards.

The two joined the likes of Sally Rooney, Emilie Pine, Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen, Lynn Ruane and Liz Nugent in claiming prizes at last night’s awards, which were voted for by the public.

More than 100,000 votes were cast by book lovers in more than a dozen categories, a 96% increase on the number cast last year.

The awards recognised books in a wide range of categories.

Winners included Sally Rooney for ‘Normal People’, which claimed Novel of the Year; Liz Nugent’s ‘Skin Deep’, which won the Crime Fiction Book of the Year; and Peter Donnelly, who won the Children’s Book of the Year (Junior) for ‘The President’s Cat.’

The winner in the Bord Gáis Energy Sports Book of the Year category was ‘Game Changer’ by Cora Staunton with Mary White. Mary is a former sports writer and sub-editor with the Evening Echo.

William Murray, meanwhile, won the EUROSPAR Cookbook of the Year for ‘Curabinny Cookbook’, written with his partner James Kavanagh. William developed his love of food growing up in Currabinny and studied at Ballymaloe Cookery School.

A number of other Cork writers were in the running at last night’s prizes.

West Cork writer Louise O’Neill — a former winner of the overall Book of the Year prize — was up for the Teen/Young Adult Book of the Year for ‘The Surface Breaks’, a feminist reimagining of Hans Christian Anderson’s ‘The Little Mermaid’. The prize was awarded to Brian Conoghan for ‘The Weight of a Thousand Feathers.’

Radio and TV presenter Matt Cooper was up for his book on Ryanair chief Michael O’Leary but missed out to Senator Lynne Ruane in the non-fiction category.

Also in the running at last night’s awards were Dervla McTiernan, Danny Denton, Graham Norton, Caroline O’Donoghue and Alan Titley. From today, the public can vote for the overall An Post Book of the Year by visiting www.irishbookawards.irish.