Join us for the sixth annual John McGahern Book Prize and hear excerpts from the winning entry, which will be announced in September.

The shortlisted books are: Hagstone by Sinéad Gleeson; Glorious Exploits by Ferdia Lennon; Girl in the Making by Anna Fitzgerald; and The Coast Road by Alan Murrin.

The shortlist was whittled down from 17 entries and the final arbiter will be Irish novelist and former University of Liverpool Chancellor, Colm Tóibín, who will select the winner later this summer.

The prize was established by the University’s Institute of Irish Studies to promote new Irish fiction and to celebrate the memory of one of Ireland’s greatest masters of prose fiction, John McGahern (1934-2006). The competition carries an award of £5,000 for the best debut novel or short story collection by an Irish writer or writer resident in Ireland published in 2024.

Click here to book a festival pass.

All passes will include reserved seating in the lecture theatre, plus a host of other exclusive VIP benefits. Please note, the weekend pass does include the launch event with Emma Jane Unsworth on Friday 17th October.

There are a number of FREE University of Liverpool student tickets at all festival events. Students who sign up to receive their free ticket will need to show their student ID when they arrive at the venue.

To visit the festival website and take a look at the rest of the programme please click here

The John McGahern Annual Book Prize