The winners of the 2021 Irish Book Awards have been announced

Whether you are looking for inspiration for a Christmas gift or just need a good book to snuggle up on those cold winter nights, these Irish Book Award winners are a sure bet.

Sally Rooney, Fintan O’Toole and Louise Nealon are among the winning authors of the 2021 An Post Irish Book Awards. The winners were announced on RTÉ’s website on November 23, according to The Irish Times.

Best-selling author Sally Rooney won the novel of the year award for the second time with her book “Beautiful World, Where Are You”. Her previous novel, “Normal People”, adapted into a successful television series, won the novel of the year award in 2018.

The shortlist for novel of the year included “Small Things Like These” by Claire Keegan and “The Magician” by Colm Tóibín.

The 2021 Non-Fiction Book of the Year Award went to Fintan O’Toole for “We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland Since 1958”.

And impressively, for the third time in four years, co-authors Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen have won Popular Fiction Book of the Year, this time for the fourth book in their hit series “Aisling,” ” Aisling and the City “.

Louise Nealon was voted Newcomer of the Year for her debut “Snowflake,” while Catherine Ryan Howard won Detective Fiction Book of the Year for “56 Days,” a book that takes place during lockdown .

Rugby star Keith Earls won the Sports Book of the Year award for his autobiography “Fight Or Flight: My Life, My Choices”.

The Kennys Bookstore and Art Gallery in Galway was named Bookstore of the Year, a new category introduced this year.

Sebastian Barry, the 2019 -2021 Irish Fiction Laureate, received the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award. Other distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award recipients over the years include Colm Tóibín, Maeve Binchy and Seamus Heaney.

The An Post Irish Book Awards, which began in 2006, are now Ireland’s biggest literary celebration. The awards feature a diverse mix of outstanding writing from new and established Irish writers in 20 categories, reports TheJournal.ie.

This year, the awards attracted more than 187,500 public votes, up 33% from 202. Votes are weighted equally with those of an academy of 300 booksellers, librarians, authors, critics and journalists.

John Treacy, President of the Awards, said: “We are so very fortunate to have such wonderful writers in this country. We have so many promising young writers, more female writers than ever before, writers representing Irish minority and marginalized communities, and this will only grow in the years to come.

“I would like to congratulate all the winners as well as the nominees in each category. It has been another great year for Irish literature.”

Voting is now open for Irish Book of the Year, which will be announced in a one-hour special on RTÉ One on December 8. All voters have a chance to win € 100 in national pound tokens.

For more information visit the Irish Book Awards website here.

Here is the full list of the winners of the 2021 An Post Irish Book Awards:

Novel of the year
“Beautiful people, where are you” by Sally Rooney

Police Book of the Year
“56 days” by Catherine Ryan Howard

Sports Book of the Year
“Fight Or Flight: My Life, My Choices” by Keith Earls, with Tommy Conlon

Newcomer of the year
Louise Nealon’s “Snowflake”

Non-fiction Book of the Year
“We Don’t Know Each Other: A Personal History of Ireland since 1958” by Fintan O’Toole

Biography of the year
“Did you hear that mom died?” »By Séamas O’Reilly

Cookbook of the Year
Donal Skehan’s “Everyday Cook”

Popular Fiction Book of the Year
“Aisling and the City” by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen

Lifestyle Book of the Year
“Decor galore” by Laura De Barra

Best Irish Book Published of the Year
“The Coastal Atlas of Ireland” by Val Cummins, Robert Devoy Barry Brunt, Darius Bartlett, Sarah Kandrot

Children’s Book of the Year (Junior)
“A Hug for You” by David King, illustrated by Rhiannon Archard

Children’s book of the year (senior)
“The Summer I Robbed a Bank” by David O’Doherty, illustrated by Chris Judge

Book of the year for teens and young adults
Sinead Moriarty’s “The New Girl”

RTÉ Audience Choice Award
“Your Wild and Precious Life” by Maureen Gaffney

Author of the year
Marian keyes

Short story of the year
“Little Lives” by Deirdre Sullivan

Irish poem of the year
“Longboat at Portaferry” by Siobhan Campbell

Yea Irish Language Bookr
“Madame Lazare” by Tadgh Mac Dhonnagain

Bookstore of the Year
Kennys Bookstore and Art Gallery, Galway