About the award
This award was created to reward the most promising first-time author published in Ireland in any given year. The award is unrestricted by genre. Since 2011, the award has been sponsored by media partner, The Sunday Independent, whose literary editor Madeleine Keane has been a stalwart supporter of new writing.
Sponsored by
The 2021 Shortlist
The Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year 2020
Diary of a Young Naturalist
By Dara McANulty
Diary of a Young Naturalist chronicles the turning of 15-year-old Dara McAnulty’s world. From spring and through a year in his home patch in Northern Ireland, Dara spent the seasons writing. These vivid, evocative and moving diary entries about his connection to wildlife and the way he sees the world are raw in their telling.
Previous Winners
2020 – The Diary of a Young Naturalist by Dara McAnulty
2019 – When All is Said
by Anne Griffin
2018 – Notes to Self
by Emilie Pine
2017 – I Found my Tribe
by Ruth Fitzmaurice
2016 – Red Dirt
by E. M. Reapy
2015 – Spill Simmer Falter Wither by Sara Baume
2014 – Only Ever Yours
by Louise O’Neill
2013 – The Herbalist
by Niamh Boyce
2012 – The Spinning Heart
by Donal Ryan
2011 – Solace
by Belinda McKeon
2010 – JFK in Ireland
by Ryan Tubridy
2009 – Confessions of a Fallen Angel
by Ronan O’Brien
2008 – With My Lazy Eye
by Julia Kelly
2007 – The Goddess Guide
by Gisele Scanlon