An Introduction to

THE IRISH VOTING ACADEMY

The Judging Process

It should be noted that The An Post Irish Book Awards are different in character from conventional literary awards where winners attract the subjective approval of a jury normally comprising 3-5 judges. To decide nineteen awards in this way would be impractical and inimical to our aim to canvass the widest possible sector of the reading public.

The Judging Process

It should be noted that the An Post Irish Book Awards are different in character from conventional literary awards where winners attract the subjective approval of a jury normally comprising 3-5 judges. To decide fifteen awards in this way would be impractical and inimical to our aim to canvass the widest possible sector of the reading public.

The Shortlists

The shortlists are compiled by an industry panel of leading booksellers and librarians. In 2023, the panel includes:

Caoilfhionn Fay
(Dubray Books)

Bob Johnston
(Gutter Bookshop) 

Tomás Kenny
(Kennys Bookshop)

Brona Looby
(Eason) 

Caitriona Bennett
(Argosy)

Heidi Murphy
(Reach Group) 

Lynda Laffan
(Eason) 

Susan Walsh
(Dubray Books)

Alan Johnston
(Bookstation) 

Aoife Roantree
(Dubray Books)

Ronan Richmond
(Argosy)

Dawn Behan
(Woodbine Books)

Hilary Hamilton
(Bridge Street Books)

Also consulted were a secondary group of literary critics, reviewers, editors and bloggers including:

Sue Leonard
(Cork Examiner)

Madeleine Keane
(Sunday Independent)

Sian Smyth
(Dalkey Book Festival)

Estelle Birdy
(Reviewer)

Anne Cunningham
(Reviewer)

Rick O’Shea
(Book Club supremo
& RTÉ presenter)

Elaina Ryan
(Children’s Books Ireland)

Hilary White
(reviewer)

Helen Cullen
(novelist and reviewer)

Houman Barekat
(reviewer)

Niamh Donnelly
(reviewer)

The Criteria

The aim is to​ select the books which, on merit, represent the best of Irish publishing in a given year including titles which have raised the profile of books, both in terms of publicity coverage and performance. These will often include books published late in the year which are widely expected to make a substantial impact. Such books will have been presented to ​individuals on the​ panel​s​ months before publication date.

Public Poll & Academy Vote

The winners are decided by an online web-poll divided into two constituencies, a public vote and a specialist Academy vote, weighted equally and combined to produce the winners. 

The voting academy comprises around 300 booksellers, librarians, non-shortlisted authors, reviewers, and journalists.

 

The purpose of the academy vote is to counter-balance the potential skewing effect of campaigning in the public vote.  For example, a title may accumulate a massive public vote but if academy support is slight, success is unlikely. Winning titles must score heavily in both constituencies. In the event of a tie, the academy vote counts as decisive.

The Irish Language, Short Story and Poetry categories are judged by independent judging panels convened by the sponsor in each case.

An Post Irish Book Awards Book of The Year

The book titles that compete for this accolade are the category winners from the An Post Irish Book Awards. The shortlist academy and public votes are counted toward the An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year. The 6 titles with the highest number of votes (when compiled from a points system of both votes) make up the official shortlist for the book of the year and the overall winner Is revealed as part of a special television show aired on RTÉ One, on December 6th.

The winner will be decided by the An Post Irish Book of the Year judging panel.