International Literature Festival Dublin

& DUBLIN Literary Award 

Present a 6-part, limited edition podcast series 

hosted by 

JESSICA TRAYNOR & SEÁN HEWITT 

Getting to know the 2022 DUBLIN Literary Award shortlisted authors and translators. 

The 2022 DUBLIN Literary Award longlist of 79 books has been painstakingly narrowed down to a shortlist of just 6 titles. The award, sponsored by Dublin City Council, is the world’s most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English, worth €100,000 to the winner. Nominated by libraries around the world, this year’s winner will be announced on 23rd of May as part of the opening day of International Literature Festival Dublin. 

In advance of that, we invite you to get to know the nominees a little better in an exclusive limited podcast series hosted by Jessica Traynor and Seán Hewitt. Kicking off on 14th April, a new podcast will be released each week in the run up to the announcement. Each episode will start with Jessica and  Seán discussing the book followed by an interview with the author, translator, or commentator. Listen at ilfdublin.com or on Soundcloud, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts. 

The 2022 DUBLIN Literary Award, sponsored by Dublin City Council is worth €100,000 to the winner. If the book has been translated the author receives €75,000 and the translator receives €25,000.  Distinctive among literary prizes, nominations are chosen by librarians and readers from a network of libraries around the world.

The 2022 Award winner will be chosen from a diverse and international shortlist which features authors who are French, Irish, Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg (Alderville First Nation, Canadian), New Zealand, and Nigerian.

Ep. 1: The Art of Falling with Danielle McLaughlin – available Thurs 14 April 

In this episode, Jessica and Seán discuss The Art of Falling, nominated by Cork City Libraries, Ireland. Their conversation is followed by an interview with the author, Danielle McLaughlin. 

A short story and fiction writer, Danielle’s work has been published in the New Yorker, Irish Times, the Stinging Fly, and various anthologies. The Art of Falling is her first novel and with it she has crafted an intricate portrayal of one woman caught between the past and the present, facing the emotional consequences of truth and betrayal. 

Ep. 2: The Art of Losing with Alice Zeniter & Frank Wynne – available Tues 19 April

In this episode, Jessica and Seán discuss The Art of Losing, nominated by Bibliothèque publique d’information, France. Their conversation is followed by an interview with the author, Alice Zeniter, and translator, Frank Wynne. 

Alice is the prize-winning author of four novels. She is also a playwright and theatre director. With The Art of Losing, Alice has created a powerful drama about a family struggling with the weight of the past, and the reality of their displacement from their homeland. Frank Wynne is an Irish translator who has translated and published comics and graphic novels. He has won numerous awards for his translations, including the DUBLIN Literary Award 2002, the Scott Moncrieff Prize, and the Premio Valle Inclán. 

Ep 3: Remote Sympathy with Catherine Chidgey – available Tues 26 April 

In this episode, Jessica and Seán discuss Remote Sympathy, nominated by Auckland Libraries, New Zealand and Dunedin Public Libraries, New Zealand. Their conversation is followed by an interview with the author, Catherine Chidgey. 

A New Zealand author and academic, Catherine has created a haunting examination of human connection in the midst of war, in a narrative set in and around a German concentration camp.

Ep 4: At Night all Blood is Black with David Diop & Anna Moschovakis – available Tues 3 May

In this episode, Jessica and Seán discuss At Night all Blood is Black, nominated by Bibliothèque de Reims, France. Their conversation is followed by an interview with the author, David Diop, and translator, Anna Moschovakis. 

Born in Paris, David Diop grew up in Senegal. A professor of eighteenth century literature, he draws deeply on his native culture to tell a story steeped in the horrors of war, and the scope of the human soul. Translator Anna Moschovakis is also a poet and an author, whose works include the James Laughlin Award-winning poetry collection You and Three Others Are Approaching a Lake and a novel, Eleanor, or The Rejection of the Progress of Love. 

Ep 5:  The Death of Vivek Oji with Dr. Ebun Joseph – available Tues 10 May 

In this episode, Jessica is joined by Dr. Ebun Joseph to discuss The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi, nominated by Helsinki City Library, Finland. Blending unflinching realism with quality of folklore and myth, The Death of Vivek Oji explores contemporary Nigeria in all of its complexity, where tight family and community bonds are woven into the submerged stories of gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Dr. Ebun Joseph is a race relations consultant and Director Institute of Antiracism and Black Studies. She was a Teaching Fellow at Trinity College Dublin where she taught the undergraduate module on race, ethnicity and Identity and on the Master’s programme, where she developed and taught the module on Intersectionality of race and gender. She developed the first module in Black Studies and critical race theory in Education at University College Dublin.  

 
Ep 6: Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson – available Tues 17 May

In this episode, Jessica and Seán discuss Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies, nominated by Ottawa Public Library, Canada. Their conversation is followed by an interview with the author, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson. 

Leanne is a Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg writer, scholar, musician, and member of the Alderville First Nation. Interrogating the intersections between politics, story, song, Leanne has created an essential work of decolonisation, a hymn to the natural world, and a reclamation of indigenous culture. 

About your hosts:

Jessica Traynor is a poet, essayist and librettist. Her debut poetry collection, Liffey Swim, was shortlisted for the Strong/Shine Award. The Quick was a 2019 Irish Times poetry choice. Awards include the Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary and Hennessy New Writer of the Year. Paper Boat, a new opera commission from Irish National Opera and Music for Galway, will premiere in April 2022. Residencies in 2021-22 include the Yeats Society Sligo, The Seamus Heaney Home Place and the DLR LexIcon. Her third collection, Pit Lullabies, has just been published by Bloodaxe Books, and is a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. 

Seán Hewitt’s debut collection, Tongues of Fire, was published by Jonathan Cape (2020). It won The Laurel Prize in 2021, and was shortlisted for The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award, the John Pollard Foundation International Poetry Prize, a Dalkey Literary Award. In 2020, he was chosen by The Sunday Times as one of their “30 under 30” artists in Ireland. His memoir, All Down Darkness Wide, is published with Jonathan Cape and Penguin Press (2022). He is a Poetry Critic for The Irish Times and teaches Modern British & Irish Literature at Trinity College Dublin.

DUBLIN Literary Award: 

Dublin City Council sponsors the DUBLIN Literary Award which is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English. Nominations are made by library systems in major cities throughout the world. Established in 1994, the Award aims to promote excellence in world literature. Designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, Dublin’s literary heritage is a significant driver of cultural tourism for the City. dublinliteraryaward.ie 

Full details of the 2022 shortlisted titles:

Remote Sympathy by Catherine Chidgey (New Zealander) | Nominated by  Auckland Libraries, New Zealand and Dunedin Public Libraries, New Zealand

At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop (French), translated by Anna Moschovakis (American) | Nominated by Bibliothèque de Reims, France

The Death of Vivek Oji by Akwaeke Emezi (Nigerian) | Nominated by Helsinki City Library, Finland

The Art of Falling by Danielle McLaughlin (Irish) | Nominated by Cork City Libraries, Ireland

Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Michi Saagiig Nishnaabeg) | Nominated by Ottawa Public Library, Canad

The Art of Losing by Alice Zeniter (French), translated by Frank Wynne (Irish) | Nominated by Bibliothèque publique d’information, France

International Literature Festival Dublin is Dublin City Council initiative, kindly funded by The Arts Council.