Sally Rooney Longlisted for Dublin Award

With a prize of €100,000, the Dublin Literary Award is one of the richest literary prizes in the world for a single novel. If the winning book is a translation, the author receives €75,000 and the translator gets €25,000. The award is sponsored by Dublin City Council and administered by the city's public libraries. The nomination process is unique, with public libraries from major cities across the globe submitting titles for consideration. For the 2026 award, 69 titles were nominated by 80 libraries in 36 countries. Publishers and authors cannot directly submit their own work. This is not Sally Rooney's first time being recognized for her work. Her novel *Normal People* won the Costa Novel Award in 2018, making her the youngest recipient of that prize, and it was also named the Irish Novel of the Year in 2018. Her debut, *Conversations with Friends*, was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize. Niamh Ní Mhaoleoin's *Ordinary Saints* is a debut novel exploring themes of queerness, family, grief, and the legacy of the Catholic Church in Ireland. The story follows a queer Irish woman living in London who must confront her past when her family seeks to have her deceased older brother canonized as a saint. The novel has already won the PFD Queer Fiction Prize. The longlist of 20 novels for the 2026 award includes other celebrated authors like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Polish Nobel Laureate Olga Tokarczuk. The next stage will see this list narrowed down to a shortlist of six titles, which is scheduled to be announced on April 7, 2026. The winner of the 31st Dublin Literary Award will be revealed on May 21, 2026, as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin.