A Night to Remember
On an evening that mixed glamour and gravitas in equal measure, The Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards ceremony was greatly enjoyed by its largest-ever audience of authors, publishers, booksellers and media folk in the Concert Hall of the RDS. Our new President, Michael D Higgins, graced the evening as Guest of Honour and presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to fellow poet, Seamus Heaney who responded with thanks to the man he described as "The President of the republic of conscience, President of the republic of letters and President of the Republic of Ireland."
Former US President Bill Clinton also delivered a pre-recorded tribute to his great friend, Seamus Heaney who he called "one of the world's favourite poets". The category winners on the night were Neil Jordan, Alan Glynn, Belinda McKeon, Tim Robinson, Caitlin Moran, Sheila O'Flanagan, Rachel Allen, Anna Carey, Chris Judge and Nicolas Roche.
Class of 2011's Shining Hour
The Sixth Annual Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book Awards produced an eclectic mix of talented category winners including Neil Jordan, Tim Robinson and Belinda McKeon.
The fabulously wacky Caitlin Moran gleefully accepted her John Murray Listeners' Choice Award for How to be a Woman and thanked "everyone who voted for me -- mainly me!"
Nicolas Roche and Tim Robinson were both popular winners for Inside the Peloton and Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom respectively.
The glamour, as ever, on this evening was high wattage and cookery writer Rachel Allen looked radiant as she picked up a glass sculpture for her Easy Meals, while Sheila O'Flanagan, resplendent in scarlet satin, won the Popular Fiction Award.
The Sunday Independent sponsored the best Irish Newcomer of 2011 and I was delighted to present the laurel to Belinda McKeon for Solace, one of the most beautifully written novels I've read this year. Filmmaker Neil Jordan, who won the Irish Novel of the Year with the very fine Mistaken, and writer Alan Glynn who picked up the crime fiction prize for Bloodland, were profuse in their thanks to the women in their lives.
The Specsavers Children's awards went to Chris Judge for The Lonely Beast and an overwhelmed Anna Carey for The Real Rebecca.
- Madeleine Keane