Percival Everett’s novel Jamesis is on the Dublin International Literary Award 2025 shortlist announced on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
The Dublin International Literary Award is presented annually for a novel written in English or translated into English to promote excellence in world literature. The prize worth €100,000 is sponsored by the Dublin City Council, Ireland. If the winning book is a translation the prize is divided between the writer and the translator, with the writer receiving €75,000 and the translator €25,000. Percival Everett, David Diop, Akwaeke Emezi, Scholastique Mukasonga, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Mahi Binebine, Aminatta Forna, Noviolet Bulawayo, Mia Couto, Chinelo Okparanta, Yewande Omotoso, and Jonathan Escoffery have been in the running. Angolan author José Eduardo Agualusa won the award in 2017.
Non-voting Chairperson Professor Chris Morash, the Seamus Heaney Professor of Irish Writing at Trinity College Dublin, heads the 2025 jury. He is joined by Dutch author and winner of the Dublin Literary Award in 2010 Gerbrand Bakker; award-winning author and newspaper columnist Martina Devlin; writer, poet, translator, musician, and editor Fiona Sze-Lorrain; professor of American literature at Fordham University, freelance literary journalist, columnist, editor and author Prof. Leonard Cassuto; and poet, pacifist and editor Nidhi Zak/Aria Eipe. They read the 71 books nominated by 83 libraries from 34 countries around the world and revealed the 2025 longlist on Tuesday, January 14 before the shortlist was announced on Tuesday.
Percival Everett’s novel James, a reimagining of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim (now named James), offering a powerful and nuanced exploration of slavery, freedom, and the human spirit, made the shortlist.
The winner will be announced as part of the International Literature Festival Dublin on Thursday, May 22, 2025.
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