Irish Book Awards 14 November 2010 – Posted in: Uncategorised

Some food for thought…

The winners of The Irish Book Awards were announced recently and it was notable again that no Irish-language titles were on any of the shortlists. Nor was there a special Irish-language category. Now, for the Irish language literati – both publishers and readers – the literary competitions at Oireachtas na Gaeilge have long been paramount – Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin (adult) and Gradam Réics Carló (children). One’s first reaction might be that these aren’t enough, that we should ideally be striving to use some other major competitions to tell more people than just Irish speakers about what’s being published in Irish at the moment. On the other hand, The Irish Book Awards is a business in itself, established by a ‘for-profit’ company – and the awards have every sign of it; the winners of the awards receive no cheque at all, just the honour of winning. While the Irish language folk talking to ourselves might not be enough, the approach of the Irish Book Awards is hardly enough either…