Sunday Independent

Newcomer of the Year

Sunday Independent

Newcomer of the Year

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

Snowflake
Louise Nealon
Holding Her Breath
Eimear Ryan
Diving for Pearls
Jamie O’Connell
Dinner Party: A Tragedy
Sarah Gilmartin
Boys Don’t Cry
Fíona Scarlett
A Crooked Tree
Una Mannion

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.

Shadowplay
by Joseph O’Connor
Normal People
by Sally Rooney
Midwinter Break
by Bernard MacLaverty
Solar Bones
by Mike McCormack
2019
2018
2017
2016

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 

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