Irish Book Awards facts for kids

The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. First awarded in 2006, they grew out of the Hughes & Hughes bookstore's Irish Novel of the Year Prize which was inaugurated in 2000. Since 2007 the Awards have been an independent not-for-profit company funded by sponsorship. The primary sponsor is An Post, the state owned postal service in Ireland. There are currently nine categories, seven of which are judged by the Irish Literary Academy, two by a public vote. There is also a lifetime achievement award.

Current awards

• Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year
• The Argosy Irish Non-Fiction Book of the Year
• The Specsavers Irish Children's Book of the Year – junior and senior categories
• Sunday Independent Best Irish Newcomer of the Year
• The International Education Services Best Irish-Published Book of the Year
• The Irish Sports Book of the Year
• The John Murray Show Listeners' Choice Award (voted for by the public)
• The Eason Irish Popular Fiction Book of the Year (voted for by the public)
• Ireland AM Crime Fiction Book of the Year
• Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award in Irish Literature aka Lifetime Achievement in Literary Ireland Award
• Bord Gáis Energy Irish Bookshop of the Year Award (introduced 2011)
• Avonmore Cookbook of the Year (introduced 2012)
• The Love Leabhar Gaeilge Irish Language Book of the Year (introduced 2018)