Irish author Colm Tóibín has won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his novel The Master,a portrayal of American writer Henry James.
Mr Tóibín, whose previous novels include The Southand The Blackwater Lightship,is the first Irish writer to win the world's richest literary prize-worth €100,000 - for a single work of fiction published in English. The Masterwas chosen by an international panel of judges, fending off competition from nine other writers.
The judging panel described The Masteras "a powerful account of the hazards of putting the life of the mind before affairs of the heart." "This probing portrayal of Henry James is not merely an outstanding narrative. In crisp, modulated writing, it subtly balances a range of devices that leave the reader in no doubt about the accomplishment of this work.
" The Masteris and will continue to be a work of novelistic art: its preoccupations are truth and the elusiveness of intimacy, and from such preoccupations emerge this patient, beautiful exposure of loss, and the price of the pursuit of perfection.
The 10 shortlisted titles for the prize were selected from a longlist of 132 nominated by 180 libraries from 43 countries and included works from three Irish authors.
Mr Tóibín's book was nominated by 17 libraries worldwide.
Other contenders included fellow Irish writer Ronan Bennett for Havoc in its Third Yearand Britain's Jonathan Coe for The Closed Circle.
The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries and sponsored by IMPAC(Improved Management Productivity and Control) an international company with its headquarters based in Florida, USA.
The shortlisted titles were:
Gracelandby Chris Abani
Maps for Lost Loversby Nadeem Aslam
Havoc, In Its Third Yearby Ronan Bennett(Irish author)
The Closed Circleby Jonathan Coe
An Altered Lightby Jens Christian Grøndahl — translated from the Danish by Anne Born
The Swallows of Kabulby Yasmina Khadra — translated from the French by John Cullen
Breaking the Tongueby Vyvyane Loh
Don't Moveby Margaret Mazzantini — translated from the Italian by John Cullen (Mazzantini was born in Dublin)
The MasterbyColm Tóibín
The Logogryphby Thomas Wharton
