Faith Hogan, author of The Bookshop Ladies and shortlisted for the 2024 An Post Irish Book Awards, on her amazing experience.
O What A Night!
That’s the An Post Irish Book Awards I’m referring to by the way, except it wasn’t just a night – it turned out to be so much more than just one night!
First off there was THE email, dropping unexpectedly into my inbox just as I was up to my eyes procrastinating about the edits that seemed to have an all too soon due date and a mountain of things I suddenly wanted to change. It was one of those emails where you can almost feel the excitement of the sender on the other end. To be fair, the fact that I jumped from my chair and did a little dance is enough to explain exactly how thrilling it is to be nominated for an Irish Book Award. The publishers felt exactly the same from what I could gather afterwards.
Reader, it was my first! And you know what they say about first time…
So there I am, my lovely little book nominated in the Popular Fiction Category, alongside fantastic writers like Graham Norton, Marian Keyes, Cecelia Ahearn, Rachel English and Ross O’Carroll Kelly – it’s a true pinch me moment for sure.
There was of course a flurry of emails and messages and congratulations and well wishes, there were additional articles to write and a gúna to be organised. There were a thousand small things in the run up to the actual night and thankfully, every single one of them went off without a hitch.
Usually, around this time of year I do a little jaunt to London to catch up with my publishing team, meet up with my agent and generally swan about the galleries and the bookshops, but this time, it felt as if London came to me!
Bloomsbury had not just one writer, but four nominated this year – a huge cause for celebration. Head of Zeus had two of those, myself and the brilliant historian Myles Dungan, whose epic narrative Land Is All That Matters was shortlisted in the Historical Non Fiction category. There was much merriment at our table, for some it was their first time at the awards for others, their first time in Ireland.
And oh how our little country shone – Dublin positively sparkled.
It’s a funny thing, seeing a place you think you know so well through the eyes of people not familiar with it. Admittedly, we hung round the very nicest parts of the city, but still, the number of comparisons drawn by everyone with other cities (and one in particular) were unmistakeably glowing.
Our Christmas lights, the fact that our city streets are not chock a block and you can move easily through streets and shops and restaurants. The choice available, the chatty taxi drivers, the young people who are happy to give directions or move aside to let you pass (I know, this probably makes me sound ancient!) Most of all, the friendliness of the people – yes, I’m delighted to say it’s still here, our Cead Mile Failte – even if at times we don’t get to see it as clearly as our rose tinted backward looking glasses might expect.
It was all going so well, too well in fact, I expected something to go wrong – I mean, how lucky can you be? The hotel was lovely, the food superb, the company entertaining and to top it off, The Bookshop Ladies was up for an award.
A little voice in my head said – watch out!
We all know, it takes only one slippery footpath, one spilled drink, one dodgy sea food platter or – worst of all, a wardrobe malfunction on the scale of Janet Jackson to make a night memorable for all the wrong reasons.
But no, reader, rest assured none of these things came our way.
Instead, we crossed O’Connell Bridge to see a beacon of green in the distance. The Conference Centre was decked out in what appeared to everyone else in our cab to be the most nationalistic colours, but of course, that vivid green is as familiar to us as the An Post logo as it is anything else.
Pulling up outside, there was a palpable air of expectation, of excitement, of glamour even (I say this last, because those of you who are writers know the truth of it, a writer’s life is far from glamorous – most of us write in comfy clothes because we commute only twenty steps to our office each day)
We tumbled out of our cab to find a line of waiting photographers (I kid you not) thankfully I did not arrive in working clothes (pyjamas anyone?), I did in fact make some effort for the night.
Inside, apart from an overwhelming (in the best possible way) sea of green, there were more photographers, a green (red) carpet and enough champagne to re-float the Titanic. Best of all, it was full of my favourite sort of people – Book People, everyone just happy to be here to celebrate the written word and in particular books by Irish writers about this place we call home.
Sitting and listening as the awards were being announced I was struck by the fact that in many ways, it is a uniquely Irish event. There was much celebration of the Irish language, with several prizes awarded to books written as gaelige. It was warming to see a nod to the cupla focail in many of the acceptance speeches.
Again I was struck by the otherness of our culture, something that doesn’t really make itself apparent when I cross the Irish Sea for events in London. And yet, although I did some explaining to the guests seated nearby, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride.
What a wonderful event – but more than that, what a wonderful celebration of Irish books, or Irish Writers, of story and narrative for young and old, in Irish and English – it felt very much as if we are an industry in our prime – we have indeed a great deal to celebrate!
(c) Faith Hogan
Read more from Faith Hogan on Writing.ie here.
About The Bookshop Ladies by Faith Hogan:
From bestselling Irish writer, Faith Hogan, comes another gripping saga of friendship, betrayal and secrets in this story of a widow in search of answers to a shocking confession by her dying husband.
Joy Blackwood has no idea why her French art dealer husband has left a valuable painting to a woman called Robyn Tessier in Ballycove, a small town on the west coast of Ireland, but she is determined to find out.
She arrives in Ballycove to find that Robyn runs a rather chaotic and unprofitable bookshop. She is shy, suffering from unrequited love for dashing Kian, and badly in need of advice on how to make the bookshop successful.
As Joy becomes entangled in the daily dramas of Ballycove, uncovering the secrets behind her husband’s painting grows increasingly challenging. When she finally musters the courage to confront the truth, her revelation sends shockwaves through the tight-knit community she’s grown to love.
Order your copy of The Bookshop Ladies by Faith Hogan online here.
