QUILLBLOG

Rawi Hage wins IMPAC

Montreal author Rawi Hage’s De Niro’s Game has won one of the world’s richest literary prizes. The debut novel, published here by House of Anansi Press, was announced today as the winner of this year’s IMPAC Dublin International Literary Award, worth €100,000 (roughly $160,000 Canadian). Hage is only the second Canadian to win in the 13-year history of the prize – Alistair MacLeod won in 2001 for No Great Mischief – and his book is the first debut novel (CORRECTION: debut book) to win.

The win comes at a good time for Hage, with his second novel, Cockroach, poised for release in just a couple of months and an appearance at the BookExpo Canada trade show set for Sunday. (See Q&Q‘s cover profile of the author, from the brand-new July/August 2008 issue, here.) Anansi is also releasing a new edition of De Niro’s Game with a new cover, an IMPAC emblem, and a lower price of $14.95 (down from $18.95.)

The IMPAC selection process begins with nominations from public libraries around the world. De Niro’s Game emerged from a longlist of 137 titles and a shortlist of eight. The jury was made up of international authors: Spain’s José Luis de Juan, Britain’s Patricia Duncker, Ireland’s Eibhlín Evans, Nigeria’s Helon Habila, and Pakistan’s Aamer Hussein. The jury citation said of the novel, “Its originality, its power, its lyricism, as well as its humane appeal all mark De Niro’s Game as the work of a major literary talent and make Rawi Hage a truly deserving winner.”