New Northern Ireland poet up for major award |
23/10/2007
The Arts Council is pleased to congratulate Maria McManus from Strangford on being shortlisted this week for the Glen Dimplex New Writers Awards.
With a total prize fund of €45,000, the annual Glen Dimplex New Writers Awards offer unprecedented support and exposure for emerging writers in a range of genres. Awards will be made to the best first book published by an author within each of the following five categories: Fiction, Biography/Non-fiction, Children’s literature, Poetry and Irish-language (all genres).
Maria McManus – whose collection Reading the Dog is published by Belfast literary publisher Lagan Press – is up against collections from major UK publishers such as Faber & Faber, Pan Macmillan and Bloodaxe. Her collection was also shortlisted earlier this year for the Rupert & Eithne Strong Prize, which was won by another Lagan Press poet, Matt Kirkham, for his first collection The Lost Museums.
Winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in The Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin on 26 November.
