45th Annual Hennessy Literary Awards

For the last 45 years, the Hennessy Literary Awards has recognised and rewarded emerging Irish writers and poets in the literary sphere. Last night, Hennessy announced the winners of this year’s Hennessy Literary Awards at a ceremony in the RHA Gallery in Dublin, as Ríona Judge McCormack (First Fiction), Chris

Connolly (Emerging Fiction) and Jane Clarke (Emerging Poetry). From the three category winners, Ríona Judge McCormack was named the Hennessy New Irish Writer 2016, for her piece Some Strange Moon. Chris Connolly was the winning submission for the emerging fiction category for his piece Right or Good, a short story about coping with loss and deception. Jane Clarke was the recipient of the emerging poetry award for Isobel; The Blue Bible; Every Tree.

Since 2003, the Hennessy Literary Awards has also celebrated the success and achievements of established Irish writers by inducting one eminent writer each year into the Hennessy Literary Awards Hall of Fame. This year, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne was the 14th key figure from the Irish literary world inducted into the Hennessy Literary Awards Hall of Fame.