Colum McCann Wins 2011 International Impac Dublin Literary Award

Posted on June 15, 2011

Colum McCann has won the 2011 International Impac Dublin Literary Award. McCann's novel, Let the Great World Spin, won the award. McCann will receive a cash prize of 100,000 Euros, which is about $142,000 U.S. It is the largest cash prize for a single novel published in English.

The judging panel issued the following statement about McCann's novel, "This is a remarkable literary work, a genuinely 21st Century novel that speaks to its time but is not enslaved by it. The human condition, the kindness and cruelty shown from one man to another, the ways in which we suffer and triumph, are subjects which have resonated through fiction for centuries. In each generation, writers explore these themes and rephrase the questions that our humanity asks of us. There are few answers in this novel. Its beguiling nature leaves the reader with as much uncertainty as we feel throughout our lives, but therein lies the power of fiction and of this book in particular.

In the opening pages of Let The Great World Spin, the people of New York City stand breathless and overwhelmed as a great artist dazzles them in a realm that seemed impossible until that moment; Colum McCann does the same thing in this novel, leaving the reader just as stunned as the New Yorkers, just as moved and just as grateful."

McCann's novel also won the National Book Award for Let the Great World Spin.