Canadian author Michael Crummey wins Dublin Literary Award for The Adversary

Michael Crummey, a Canadian author, has earned this year’s Dublin Literary Award for his book The Adversary.

Sponsored by Dublin City Council, books are nominated by public libraries across the globe, recognizing both writers and translators. This year marked the award’s 30th year running. The prize of €100,000 makes this honor the most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English.

"To have won the Dublin Literary Award leaves me thrilled and deeply, deeply grateful,” said Crummey. “It's something I will carry with me always.

"I would not be here today without the Buchans Public Library, the library in my hometown. It's like a small mining town, maybe 1,500 people down 70km of a dead end road. But the library was the place where I found the world outside my town, and it just gave me such a sense of possibility. So the fact that the Newfoundland public libraries who nominated the book for this award are still opening me up to the world and sending me out into the world that just makes me so thrilled."

The Adversary is set in an isolated outpost, where an act of sabotage sends a man and women down a long road of mistrust and revenge. It was nominated by Newfoundland and Labrador libraries in Canada, and chosen from a shortlist of six novels from Argentina, Ireland, The Netherlands and the US. The longlist of 71 books was nominated by 83 libraries from 34 countries.

At Dublin’s International Literature Festival, Lord Mayor and Patron of the Award Emma Blain announced the winner alongside Dublin City Council CEO Richard Shakespeare.

"The award celebrating 30 years is a source of pride for us in our UNESCO City of Literature,” said Shakespeare. “It has supported writers, translators and readers over the years, and brings the world closer through the power of imaginative story-telling."