Two authors with local links were crowned winners at this years annual An Post Irish Book Awards. School boy Dara McAulty and chef Neven Maguire were both selected as winners for their respective categories. The Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year and Bookselling Ireland Cookbook of the Year.

This year’s Awards attracted a record number of votes from the Irish public, and, for the first time ever, audiences around the world were able to watch the An Post Irish Book Awards ceremony as it happened on rte.ie/culture.

First awarded in 2006, the An Post Irish Book Awards showcase a diverse mix of exceptional writing from new and established writers across sixteen categories, with this year’s awards ceremony taking place online due to the global pandemic. The Awards are Ireland’s biggest literary celebration, championing everything from novels and non-fiction to poetry, short stories and the Irish language.

Dara’s book, Diary of a Naturalist has been subject to critical acclaim across Ireland and the UK and this will be the third award for the 16-year-old naturalist who now lives in County Down but previously lived in Co Fermanagh. Blacklion chef Neven Maguire is a well-known face for many across Fermanagh and Ireland as one of the countries top chefs and for his award winning restaurant Macnean House in Blacklion, this is his 15th cookbook.

Accepting his award, Dara said: “I hope this sends a message to young people that we can share our hopes and dreams and our love of the natural world."

Neven said: “I was delighted and thank you to everyone who bought it and to the fantastic team at Gill books who are a joy to work with. The book came from a conversation with Nikki Howard, Director of Gill Books, and seems to have filled a gap in the market. When it was written we had no idea that Covid was around the corner and that so many people would be cooking at home and looking for tasty recipes that are easy to prepare and work for all sorts of households. And photographer Jo Murphy once again made the food look good enough to eat off the page. ” the chef continued.

This year’s Awards attracted a record number of votes from the Irish public, and, for the first time ever, audiences around the world were able to watch the An Post Irish Book Awards ceremony as it happened on rte.ie/culture.

First awarded in 2006, the An Post Irish Book Awards showcase a diverse mix of exceptional writing from new and established writers across sixteen categories, with this year’s awards ceremony taking place online due to the global pandemic. The Awards are Ireland’s biggest literary celebration, championing everything from novels and non-fiction to poetry, short stories and the Irish language.

This year’s awards ceremony will be hosted by Evelyn O’Rourke, while the overall winner of the ‘An Post Irish Book of the Year,’ will be unveiled in a television programme, presented by Miriam O Callaghan, on RTÉ One at 10.15pm tonight.

Nevan and Dara will be competing against the other winners from various categories to compete for the overall An Post Irish Book of the Year 2020. They will be up against a whole host of other books and authors including : A Light That Never Goes Out by Keelin Shanley, After the Silence by Louise O’Neill, Home Stretch by Graham Norton and Strange Flowers by Donal Ryan.