Click 2010 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award Longlist
For those of you with nothing to read for the next five or six months, give the IMPAC 2010 longlist a go! Featuring 156 books, this should keep you busy until the shortlist is announced on April 14, 2010. The winner will be announced June 17, 2010.
Wow! For an award that, because it features books published two years prior (2008, in this case), this is an interesting way to make it feel closer to the present!
I haven’t paid much attention to this prize before, but I have read 21 of the longlist. Twelve of those I would rate as best reads, 5 as positive, 2 neutral, and only 2 bad (Child 44!!!!! again?)
Anyway, my point is that I think this may be quite a good way of taking nominations. It is a wider readership than just a few judges and gives a fantastic “geographic balance”. It even seems to make sense that the books are from last year – some are not yet available in the UK but probably will be by the time the winner is announced.
I suspect I will have read more of these by the time the shortlist is announced, but not necessarily because they are on this list.