FAQ's

The Irish Book Awards comprises eighteen categories of literary awards aimed at promoting and celebrating excellence in Irish writing. The Awards are industry recognition awards, adjudicated upon by a broad and democratic electorate, including booksellers, librarians and general readers. It is the only set of literary awards which enjoys the full support of all sections of the Irish book industry.

The awards are owned by Irish Book Awards Ltd, a not-for-profit company presided over by a board comprising Executive Director: Alastair Giles, current Chair: John Treacy, Larry McHale, Brendan Corbett, and the current Irish BA president. The awards administrator is Bert Wright.

Submissions are welcomed during a two-month window (between June 30th and the end of August,) provided the title satisfies the eligibility conditions. Entries should be submitted online by clicking the Submissions tab on the home page.

There are three fundamental eligibility conditions: title must be published within the awards year which runs from November to November each year; author must be Irish by birth, citizenship or long-term residence; the book must be original, ie not a reprint or previously published material. Certain categories have additional rules which can be examined by clicking on the Submissions tab on the home page.

Yes. The Best Newcomer and Best-Irish published categories are open to titles submitted in their generic categories: In general terms, it’s best to submit in the most appropriate categories. Speculative submissions in several categories are not encouraged.

If your title becomes shortlisted, you will be asked to send 13 copies for promotional purposes.

The shortlists are compiled by a combination of two voting constituencies: ​ ​on​e, an​ industry panel of booksellers and librarians​;  the other, a group of literary journalists and critics. The pane​ls​ select the books which, in their collective view, represent the best of Irish publishing in a given year.

The winners are decided by a combination of the online public poll and the Voting Academy poll, weighted equally. In the final adjudication, the highest-polling title in each voting group will earn 6 points down to 1 point for the 6th placed title. In the event of a tie, the academy vote will be decisive.

The winners of the individual categories go forward to compete for the title of the overall Irish Book of the Year.  The winner is decided by the An Post Irish Book of the Year judging panel.

The Voting Academy is an aggregate of around 200 bibliophiles – booksellers, librarians, reviewers, journalists and cultural commentators – who are invited to vote for their preferred winner in each category.

Public voting on the category awards will be conducted online at the Irish Book Awards website.  Voting for the An Post Book of the Year will also be conducted via the An Post website.

Any company wishing to be considered as a sponsor should contact either the Executive Director or The Administrator. Sponsorship proposals not specifically related to an award will also be considered. For more information head to the
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