This year’s An Post Irish Book Awards nicely confirmed a few things. Firstly, that female Irish fiction is on fire. Secondly, in a nice tie-in, millennial-centred storytelling is hot on its heels. 

Sally Rooney was awarded Novel of the Year for new release Beautiful World, Where Are You, replicating the unbridled success of Normal People. A Trinity novel of a different kind from this year is Snowflake – its author Louise Nealon was voted Newcomer of the Year in a category filled with strong debuts by Una Mannion, Fíona Scarlett, Sarah Gilmartin, Jamie O’Connell and Eimear Ryan. 

Meanwhile, Crime Fiction Book of the Year went to Catherine Ryan Howard’s 56 Days. The hit novel, which is set during lockdown, has skyrocketed to must-read status worldwide, gaining a nod from the New York Times.

The Awards, while held virtually, weren’t short on glamour. See author and THE GLOSS contributor Emily Hourican, who was nominated in the Popular Fiction category for The Guinness Girls: A Hint of Scandal, with a gown and sitting room cocktail as a case in point. 

Meanwhile, Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght, who won the Popular Fiction Book of the Year award for Aisling and the City, celebrated their win with gusto – and margaritas in Dublin’s 777. Alumna of THE GLOSS Sarah Breen and her writing partner McLysaght have plenty of reason to celebrate – it’s their third win in the category in four years. This comes with news that Aisling and the City is on track to be the bestselling Irish book of 2021.