The 2026 Dublin Literary Award longlist has been revealed, showcasing a diverse range of international fiction, with Irish authors Sally Rooney and Niamh Ní Mhaoleoin among the twenty nominated titles. The award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, is globally recognized as the most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English, offering a €100,000 prize to the winner.
Rooney, known for her bestselling novels, has been longlisted for her latest work, Intermezzo, a story centered on two brothers navigating life after their father’s death. Ní Mhaoleoin, a debut novelist, earned her place on the list with Ordinary Saints, a novel exploring themes of identity and family through the story of a queer woman whose brother is considered for sainthood. The nominations highlight the continued strength of Irish literature on the world stage.
Unique among literary awards, the Dublin Literary Award’s nominations come directly from librarians and readers representing libraries across the globe. This year’s longlist was selected from an initial 69 titles nominated by 80 libraries in 36 countries, demonstrating the award’s broad international reach. The judging panel, comprised of authors Xiaolu Guo and Disha Bose, writer and former diplomat Daniel Mulhall, translator Clara Ministral, performance poet Dike Chukwumerije, and chaired by Prof Chris Morash of Trinity College Dublin, had the challenging task of narrowing down the submissions.
The 2026 longlist includes a number of other acclaimed authors, including Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Alan Hollinghurst, and Ocean Vuong. A significant portion of the nominated works – six titles – are translations, reflecting the award’s commitment to recognizing global storytelling. Among these translated works is The Empusium by Polish Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk.
The Longlist in Full
Here is the complete list of the twenty novels longlisted for the 2026 Dublin Literary Award:
- Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner (American)
- Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
- Endling by Maria Reva (Ukraine)
- Gliff by Ali Smith (Britain)
- Good Girl by Aria Aber (Afghanistan-Germany)
- In Late Summer by Magdalena Blažević (Bosnia-Croatia), translated by Anđelka Raguž
- Intermezzo by Sally Rooney (Ireland)
- Live Fast by Brigitte Giraud (France), translated by Cory Stockwell
- Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ní Mhaoleoin (Ireland)
- Our Evenings by Alan Hollinghurst (Britain)
- Perspectives by Laurent Binet (France), translated by Sam Taylor
- The Antidote by Karen Russell (US)
- The Brittle Age by Donatella Di Pietrantonio (Italy), translated by Ann Goldstein
- The Boy from the Sea by Garrett Carr (Ireland)
- The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk (Poland), translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones
- Camarade by Theo Dorgan (Ireland)
- Our London Lives by Christine Dwyer Hickey (Ireland)
- The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel (US)
- The Refuge by Khaled Khalifa (Syria), translated by Leri Price
- When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar (Canada)
The award offers a substantial prize: €100,000 to the winning author. If the winning work is a translation, the author will receive €75,000, with the remaining €25,000 awarded to the translator. This structure underscores the award’s dedication to recognizing both original authorship and the art of translation.
The shortlist of six titles will be announced on April 7th, and the winner of the 31st Dublin Literary Award will be revealed on May 21st as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin (ILFD), likewise funded by Dublin City Council. Lord Mayor of Dublin Councillor Ray McAdam commented on the diverse and compelling nature of the longlist, encouraging readers to explore the “excellence of world storytelling.”
The announcement of the longlist marks the beginning of a period of anticipation for literary enthusiasts, as readers and critics alike delve into the nominated works. The Dublin Literary Award continues to champion exceptional fiction from around the world, fostering a global conversation about literature and its power to connect us.
Preserve an eye on the International Literature Festival Dublin in May for the announcement of the winner and further discussion of these remarkable novels. You can locate more information about the award and the longlisted titles on the official Dublin Literary Award website.
