John McGahern Annual Book Prize
The John McGahern Annual Book prize of £5,000 is for the best debut work of fiction - either novel or collection of short stories - by an Irish writer or writer resident in Ireland for more than 5 years, published in a given year.
We are delighted to announce that the 2024 John McGahern Book Prize is now accepting submissions.
Please note we ask for both a physical and a digital submission. For more details, please see the submission form at the bottom of this page.
The book prize was set up in 2019 by the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies in memory of John McGahern, and with the endorsement of the John McGahern Estate. The John McGahern Annual Book Prize will be awarded for fiction published from across all genres of adult fiction in a given year. The inaugural John McGahern Annual Book Prize was awarded in July 2020 to Adrian Duncan for his novel Loves Notes from a German Building Site (The Lilliput Press). Please see below for a list of past winners.
| Year | Author | Title | Story | Video |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Adrian Duncan | Love Notes from a German Building Site (The Liliput Press) |
Adrian Duncan scoops inaugural John McGahern Annual Book Prize | Video |
| 2020 | Hilary Fannin | The Weight of Love (Doubleday Press) |
Hilary Fannin named 2020 John McGahern Book Prize Winner | Video |
| 2021 | Louise Kennedy |
The End of the World is a Cul de Sac (Bloomsbury) |
Louise Kennedy named 2021 John McGahern Book Prize Winner | Video |
| 2022 | Aingeala Flannery |
The Amusements (Sandycove) |
Aingeala Flannery wins John McGahern Book Prize for Debut Irish Fiction | |
| 2023 | Michael Magee |
Close to Home (Hamish Hamilton) |
Why Michael Magee has won the John McGahern Prize for debut Irish fiction 2023. |
For an overview of submissions and shortlists from previous years, please go to History of John McGahern Book Prize.
Eligibility
The prize is open to any Irish writer, or writer resident in Ireland for more than 5 years. Publishers are invited to send any novels or collections of short stories published during the current calendar year they wish to put forward for the prize by Friday 6 December 2024. The submission must be the author's debut work of fiction.
Please post just one copy of each submission for the attention of:
Viola Segeroth
John McGahern Book Prize
The Institute of Irish Studies
University of Liverpool
1 Abercromby Square
Liverpool
L69 7WY
We also ask that you submit one digital copy by emailing irish@liverpool.ac.uk.
Please also ensure that both the digital and the physical copy are accompanied by a completed and signed John McGahern Annual Book Prize - Submission Form (2024).
Judging panel
The submitted entries will be considered by a judging panel consisting of:
Colm Tóibín, Chancellor of the University of Liverpool from 2017 until 2022. Colm is a prolific writer, producing both fiction and non-fiction works across a glittering career now reaching it fourth decade.
Professor Dame Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor, University of Liverpool from 2015 until 2022. She is a member of the Equality and Diversity Advisory Panel and a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Janet was awarded her Damehood for services to higher education and equality and diversity. She has an established record of research and scholarship in late nineteenth and early twentieth century American literature and culture.
Professor Frank Shovlin, Professor of Irish Literature in English, Institute of Irish Studies, University of Liverpool. Frank has published widely on various aspects of Irish Literature, and is the authorised biographer of John McGahern and recently published his edited The Letters of John McGahern (Faber)
Dr Eleanor Lybeck is a lecturer in literature based between the Institute of Irish Studies and the Department of English at the University of Liverpool. Her first monograph, All on Show, traced the circus as a motif in Irish writing from the mid-eighteenth century to the present day. Alongside her academic research and teaching, Eleanor co-directs the production company Sidelong Glance and is currently completing an adaptation for the stage of Virginia Woolf’s final novel, Between the Acts. Eleanor was named an AHRC/BBC Radio 3 New Generation Thinker in 2017 and has been variously involved in broadcasts on literary and cultural subjects for Radio 3 and 4.
Professor of Irish literature in English, Frank Shovlin said:
We at the Institute are delighted to continue this initiative, launched in 2019, with the endorsement of John McGahern’s literary estate.
The prize, named after one of Ireland's greatest fiction writers, is designed to encourage, reward and promote new Irish writing.
We look forward to judging what will undoubtedly be a strong field of entries and hopefully finding a writer who will continue in that great tradition of Irish fiction of which McGahern was such a vital part.
Professor Shovlin is acknowledged as the leading scholar on the life and works of John McGahern. He has published numerous articles on McGahern and his monograph, Touchstones: John McGahern’s Classical Style was published in 2016. He is the editor of The Letters of John McGahern (Faber) and is working on the first authorised biography of McGahern.
Prize announcement and condition of prize
The announcement of the John McGahern Annual Book Prize for any given year will be made in the summer of the following year.
A condition of the prize is that the winner must be available to attend a public event (including a reading and book signing) in Liverpool as part of the University of Liverpool’s Literary Festival due to be held in the October of the same year as the announcement. Reasonable travelling cost (up to £150) and overnight accommodation will be covered for the winner.
Should social distancing rules make a public event impracticable a digital announcement, including a video with the winner, will be made instead.
If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact Professor Frank Shovlin fshovlin@liverpool.ac.uk
About John McGahern
John McGahern was born in Dublin in 1934 and brought up in the West of Ireland. He was the author of six highly acclaimed novels, four collections of short stories, a play, an autobiography and various essays. He was the recipient of numerous awards and honours, including a Society of Authors Travelling Scholarship, the American-Irish Award, the Prix Etrangère Ecureuil and the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Amongst Women (1990), which won both the GPA and the Irish Times Award, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and made into a four-part BBC television series. His work has appeared in anthologies and has been translated into many languages. His last book, Memoir, was published in 2005. He died in 2006.