The big sleep may soon be over and a brave new world beckons as the An Post Irish Book Awards gear up to celebrate another wonderful year for Irish writing.

Along with most other industries, the publishing industry has faced challenges these last six months. Now, however, with the prudent re-opening of the country and massive progress having been made in combating the virus, publishers and authors are determined to make up for lost time with a blistering second half of 2020 and the Awards, along with headline sponsor An Post, are determined to play a major part in the communal effort to foreground Irish writing like never before.

Submissions for the 2020 Awards are now open.  Publishers may submit in fifteen separate categories including Novel, Crime Fiction, Popular Fiction, Nonfiction, Sports, Children’s, Cookery, Short Story, Poetry, Teen and Young Adult and Irish Language.  Submissions will remain open until August 31st and we look forward to hearing from publishers in the coming weeks.  The shortlist launch is currently scheduled for October 22nd and the Awards Ceremony for November 25th. Both are under review and may be a little different this year, but plans for a very impressive campaign around the awards are being forged now to ensure that by November, there will be much to celebrate.

Details of the 2020 campaign, support from our sponsors and partners, key promotional dates and TV coverage will be finalised and confirmed in the coming months.