The IMPAC-Connecticut State University
Young Writers Competition
Mastering Dublin
Hartford Courant
Sunday Arts Section
By Carole Goldberg, Book Editor
April 9, 2006
A novel by Irish author Colin Toibin, "The Master," is among 10 books on the short list for the 11th annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award for 2006.
The books were selected from 132 nominations made by 180 libraries from 43 countries. The Hartford Public Library was among those that nominated "The Master," which is based on the life of the great American writer Henry James.
"Even the reader who knows little about James or his work can enjoy this marvelously intelligent and engaging novel, which presents not on a silver platter but in tender, opened hands a beautifully nuanced psychological portrait," says Booklist of "The Master."
Other finalists are Chris Albani for "Graceland," Nadeem Aslam for "Maps for Lost Lovers," Ronan Bennett for "Havoc, In Its Third Year," Jonathan Coe for "The Closed Circle," Jens Christian Grondahl for "An Altered Light" [translated from the Danish by Anne Born], Yasmina Khadra for "The Swallows of Kabul" [translated from the French by John Cullen], Vyvyane Loh for "Breaking the Tongue," Margaret Mazzantini for "Don't Move" [translated from the Italian] by John Cullen and Thomas Wharton for "The Logogryph."
The winner will be announced June 14 in Dublin. The award, which went to American author Edward P. Jones last year for "The Known World," is worth 100,000 euros, or about $120,000, and is the world's largest literary prize [for a single work of fiction].