NI writer claims €100,000 prize

Milkman is an experimental novel set in Troubles-era Belfast, in which the narrator is an unnamed 18-year-old girl known as “middle sister” who is stalked by an older paramilitary figure, Milkman.

It has already been honoured with a number of awards, including the 2018 Man Booker Prize and, last week, the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Literary Prize.

The judging panel said it was a “unanimous decision” and praised the novel as a “tour-de-force” and a “remarkable achievement”.

Belfast-born Burns becomes the first Irish woman writer and the first from north of the Border to receive the award in its 25-year history.

The €100,000 award, which is sponsored by Dublin City Council, is the most valuable annual prize for a single work of fiction published in English.

It receives its nominations from public libraries around the world, with Milkman nominated by public libraries in the UK, US and Germany, as well as Limerick City and County libraries.

The award was announced in Dublin and in the Irish Embassy in London yesterday.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic Burns was unable to travel from her home in England to Dublin for the ceremony, but was presented with her award by Ireland’s Ambassador to the UK, Adrian O’Neill.

Commenting on her win, Burns, 58, said: “What an honour. I’m thrilled to bits and am about to break into my sevens with the excitement of it all!

“This is an extraordinary honour – especially given the fantastic list I find myself on.

“I thank the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu, and Dublin City Council for being the patron and the host of this generous award. Also I salute them for representing Dublin’s position at the cultural heart of worldwide literature.”

She went on to praise libraries and talk about how much they meant to her as a child in Belfast.

“To go from being a wee girl haggling over library cards with my siblings, my friends, neighbours, my parents and my aunt, to be standing here today receiving this award is phenomenal for me, and I thank you all again for this great honour.”

Speaking at the winner announcement, Lord Mayor and patron of the Award, Hazel Chu, said: “What a wonderful book and massively talented writer! The judges should be very proud of their work as it wasn’t easy to choose a winner from among this very strong shortlist.

“I was so delighted to open that envelope and see Milkman written on the card! I wish to extend huge congratulations to Anna Burns.”

Anna Burns has written two other novels, ‘No Bones’, which won the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize in 2001 and ‘Little Constructions’.

She has also penned a novella, ‘Mostly Hero’.

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