The Irish Book Awards burst onto the literary scene when, in 2006, Hughes & Hughes opted to expand the reach and influence of their widely acclaimed Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year Prize. This first wave of expansion added to the sponsors roster, The Dublin Airport Authority, who sponsored a new children's award and Argosy Independent Book Wholesalers, who sponsored a new nonfiction prize.
In 2007, a second wave of expansion augmented the range of categories to nine with major new sponsors in Galaxy, Club Energise, Easons, International Education Services Ltd and RTE's The Tubridy Show all coming on board. And, for the first time, all Irish bookshops participated in the Awards promotion.
In 2009, we lost one sponsor in Galaxy but gained a new one in Ireland AM who took on the sponsorship of the new Irish Crime Fiction Award.
In 2010 we secured a headline sponsor in Bord Gáis Energy, a dynamic and immensely popular Irish brand committed to promoting the native passion for reading. In addition, the RTE Listeners' Choice Award moves to the John Murray Show. Here's to an exciting new chapter for the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards!
Submissions for the 2011 Awards are now closed, and the winners will be announced at the Awards Dinner on 17th November.
ILA
The Irish Literary Academy is a formation of around 100 individuals connected to the book business including authors, publishers, booksellers, journalists, academics, critics, and reviewers. Each year, members are sent a ballot paper of the shortlisted titles and invited to select their winners.
The winners in each category will be decided by a combination of the public and Literary Academy votes. The highest-polling title in each voting group - public vote and ILA - will earn six points descending to one point for the sixth- placed title. The public and academy points are then aggregated and the title with the highest number of points overall will be the winner. In the event of a points tie, the highest score in the academy vote will decide the winner.