The Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award is an annual award for Irish authors of fiction, established in 1995. It was previously known as the Kerry Ingredients Book of the Year Award (1995–2000), the Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Award (2001–2002), and the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award (2003–2011).
The winner of the prize is announced in May/June each year at the opening ceremony of the Listowel Writers' Week in County Kerry.
The prize is sponsored by the food group Kerry Group, and is the largest (currently €20,000) monetary prize for fiction available solely to Irish authors.
Winners and shortlists
1995–2011 Year Author Work Ref 1995 Philip Casey The Fabulists 1996 Emer Martin Breakfast in Babylon 1997 Deirdre Madden One by One in the Darkness 1998 John Banville The Untouchable 1999 J. M. O'Neill Bennett & Company 2000 Michael Collins The Keepers of Truth 2001 Anne Barnett The Largest Baby in Ireland After the Famine 2002 John McGahern That They May Face the Rising Sun 2003 William Trevor The Story of Lucy Gault 2004 Gerard Donovan Schopenhauer's Telescope 2005 Neil Jordan Shade 2006 Sebastian Barry A Long Long Way 2007 Roddy Doyle Paula Spencer 2008 Anne Enright The Gathering 2009 Joseph O'Neill Netherland 2010 John Banville The Infinities 2011 Neil Jordan Mistaken
2012–2024 Blue Ribbon () = winner Year Person Book Result Ref 2012 Christine Dwyer Hickey The Cold Eye of Heaven Won Kevin Barry City of Bohane Finalist Anne Enright The Forgotten Waltz Finalist Carlo Gébler The Dead Eight Finalist Belinda McKeon Solace Finalist 2013 Gavin Corbett This Is the Way Won Lucy Caldwell All the Beggars Riding Finalist Claire Kilroy The Devil I Know Finalist Kathleen MacMahon This Is How It Ends Finalist Thomas O'Malley This Magnificent Desolation Finalist 2014 Eimear McBride A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing Won Deirdre Madden Time Present & Time Past Finalist Colum McCann Transatlantic Finalist Frank McGuinness Arimathea Finalist Donal Ryan The Thing About December Finalist 2015 Eoin McNamee Blue Is the Night Won David Butler City of Dis Finalist Nuala Ní Chonchúir The Closet of Savage Mementos Finalist Patrick O'Keeffe The Visitors Finalist Eibhear Walshe The Diary of Mary Travers Finalist 2016 Anne Enright The Green Road Won John Banville The Blue Guitar Finalist Kevin Barry Beatlebone Finalist Austin Duffy This Living and Immortal Thing Finalist Edna O'Brien The Little Red Chairs Finalist 2017 Kit de Waal My Name Is Leon (Viking) Won Emma Donoghue The Wonder Finalist Neil Hegarty Inch Levels Finalist Mike McCormack Solar Bones Finalist Conor O'Callaghan Nothing on Earth Finalist 2018 Paul Lynch Grace (Oneworld) Won Lisa Harding Harvesting Finalist Frank McGuiness The Woodcutter and His Family Finalist Bernard McLaverty Midwinter Break Finalist Sally Rooney Conversations with Friends Finalist 2019 David Park Travelling in a Strange Land (Bloomsbury) Won John Boyne Ladder to the Sky Finalist Jess Kidd The Hoarder Finalist Emer Martin The Cruelty Men Finalist Sally Rooney Normal People Finalist 2020 Edna O'Brien Girl Won Kevin Barry Nightboat to Tangier Finalist Mary Costello The River Capture Finalist Rónán HessionLeonard and Hungry Paul Finalist Joseph O'Connor Shadowplay 2021 Anakana Schofield Bina (Fleet) Won Niamh Campbell This Happy Finalist Rob Doyle Threshold Finalist Adrian Duncan A Sabbatical in Leipzig Finalist Laura McKenna Words to Shape My Name Finalist 2022 Claire Keegan Small Things Like These (Grove Press) Won Jan Carson The Raptures Finalist Lisa Harding Bright Burning Things Finalist Nuala O'ConnorNora Finalist Kevin Power White City Finalist 2023 Library Thing website, Kerry Group Irish novel of the Year Award 2023 Aingeala Flannery These Amusements RTE website, Aingeala Flannery winds Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award, article by Sinead Crowley dated June 1, 2023 Won Anya Bergman The Witches of Vardo Finalist Adrian Duncan The Geometer Lobachevsky Finalist Louise KennedyTrespasses Finalist Audrey Magee The Colony Finalist 2024 Kerry.com website, Kerry Celebrates 30 Year Partnership with Listowel Writers’ Week, article dated 19 June, 2024 Darragh McKeon Remembrance Sunday Won Sebastian Barry Old God's Time Finalist Naoise Dolan The Happy Couple Finalist Anne EnrightThe Wren, The Wren Finalist Paul Murray Bee Sting Finalist 2025 Kerry.com website, Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Niall Williams Time of The Child Won Christine Dwyer Hickey Our London Lives Finalist Joseph O'Connor The Ghosts of Rome Finalist Donal Ryan Heart, Be At Peace Finalist Colm Tóibín Long Island Finalist
References
External links Listowel Writers' Week