The Irish Book Awards have announced the Best Irish books of the past 20 years to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Awards. A list of sixty titles was voted on by readers across Ireland to determine the final 20. Here is what the people of Ireland chose as their favourites:
- A Ghost in the Throat by Dorieann Ni Ghriofa
- Asking for It by Louise O'Neill
- Atlas of the Irish Revolution by John Crowley, Donal O Drisceoil, Mike Murphy and John Borgonovo
- Country Girl by Edna O'Brien
- Fia and the Last Snow Deer by Eilish Fisher
- Girls Who Slay Monsters by Ellen Ryan
- Holding by Graham Norton
- Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun) by Manchan Magan
- Normal People by Sally Rooney
- Poor by Katriona O'Sullivan
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan
- The Bee Sting by Paul Murray
- The Boy in Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne
- The Importance of Being Aisling by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen
- The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry
- The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan
- Trespasses by Louise Kennedy
- Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent
- We Don't Know Ourselves by Fintan O'Toole
I have only read a handful of these titles so plenty to explore here. My favourite Irish writer, Anne Enright, was on the longlist for The Gathering, but didn't make the top twenty.
