Culture
OU Prof’s Book Makes Irish Novel of the Year Shortlist
< < Back to ou-profs-book-makes-irish-novel-of-the-year-shortlistPatrick O’Keeffe’s The Visitors (Viking Press, 2014) has been named to the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award 2015 shortlist.
A native of County Limerick, Ireland, who has lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years, O’Keeffe is an assistant professor of English at Ohio University, where he teaches creative writing fiction.
In addition to The Visitors, he is the author of The Hill Road, a collection of novellas published by Viking Press in 2006. The book, a Barnes and Noble Discovery selection, received the The Story Prize for 2005 and a Whiting Award for fiction writing. His work has appeared in The Irish Times, Doubletake, and the Michigan Quarterly Review.
Following a tremendous response to a call for submissions to the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award 2015, which is for a published novel by an Irish author, Kerry Group announced the shortlist:
City of Dis by David Butler
Blue is the Night by Eoin McNamee
The Closet of Savage Mementos by Nuala Ní Chonchúir
The Visitors by Patrick O’Keeffe
The Diary of Mary Travers by Eibhear Walshe
The adjudicators Eileen Battersby and Gerald Dawe now have the task of selecting the winner, who will be presented with a check for €15,000 at the opening night of Listowel Writers’ Week on Wednesday, May 27.
“This prestigious award, now in its 20th year, continues to attract books of exceptional merit from a myriad of accomplished and aspiring Irish writers,” said Frank Hayes, Director of Corporate Affairs with the Kerry Group. “With five outstanding novels featured on this year’s shortlist, it is evident that Ireland’s literary tradition goes from strength to strength…this year’s shortlist showcases a rich and diverse selection of Irish writing.”
This article originally appeared on Ohio University’s College of Fine Arts & Sciences Forum.