The shortlist for the 2025 Kate O’Brien Award for a debut novel from an Irish female author has been announced ahead of the festival this February, and we are thrilled that Maggie Armstrong’s Old Romantics has been shortlisted!
The Festival takes place from February 21st to 23rd at the Belltable in Limerick City, and the award will be presented as part of the 41st annual Limerick Literary Festival in Honour of Kate O’Brien on the 23rd of February 2025.
The winner of the Award will be chosen from the following shortlist:
Old Romantics by Maggie Armstrong
Bodies by Christine Anne Foley
No Small Thing by Orlaine McDonald
Night Swimmers by Roisin Maguire
The Kate O’Brien Award was established in 2015 to celebrate new Irish writing. The judges for this year’s award are committee member Marie Hackett, poet and committee member Vivienne McKechnie, author and children’s book buyer for Kenny’s Bookshop, Gráinne O’Brien, Director of Narrative 4 James Lawlor and novelist Dan Mooney.
The Kate O’Brien Award comes with a €2,000 prize sponsored by Bill and Denise Whelan.
The festival programme for 2025 includes talks, interviews, panel discussions, poetry, and more to be announced. For more information, visit https://limerickliteraryfestival.com/