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Irish Times
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
Niall Williams's Time of the Child wins Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award
Niall Williams has won the 2025 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award, worth €20,000, for Time of the Child at a ceremony on the opening night of the Listowel Literary Festival in Co Kerry. This year's adjudicators, authors Carol Drinkwater and Paul McVeigh, reviewed more than 50 submitted novels before selecting the winner from a powerful shortlist that included Christine Dwyer Hickey, Joseph O'Connor, Colm Tóibín and Donal Ryan. 'Judging the prize this year was no small task,' McVeigh said. 'The quality of the entries was superb, a testament to an extraordinary time in Irish literature. Any of the shortlisted books could have won but, in the end, Time of the Child by Niall Williams rose to the top. I don't remember the last time I read a book that made me stop, so frequently, unable to continue until I had savoured a sentence. He is an extraordinary writer and a worthy winner of the Irish Novel of the Year.' Drinkwater said: 'Niall's writing is so exciting. It is exquisite. Reading his sentences was like sitting in a magnificent cathedral and listening to a great soprano singing, notes reaching to the rafters and returning to me, to nestle in my heart. It is a novel full of compassion. The characters are so vulnerable, they tear you apart. It has been several weeks since we chose Niall's novel as our winner. Still, I sit at my desk and picture myself in that doctor's surgery. I hear the child crying; I can smell the newly washed nappies; I long for these people, that father and daughter, to be given the miracle they so crave.' READ MORE Reviewing it for The Irish Times, Sarah Gilmartin praised the lushness and lyricism of the language and called it 'a warm and life-affirming story about ordinary people going to extraordinary lengths. 'Set during the advent season of 1962 in the fictional village of Faha on the west coast of Ireland, the grimly familiar scenario of an abandoned baby becomes fresh again through the heroic acts of a local doctor and his eldest daughter, as depicted by a writer who has long been interested in the wonders of the everyday.' Time of the Child is the 11th novel of the Dublin-born writer, who turns 67 next month, and his third set in the fictional village of Faha, west Clare. He has long lived in Kiltumper, Co Clare, with his wife Christine Breen. His 1997 debut novel, Four Letters of Love, has been made into a film starring Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne and Helena Bonham Carter. It will be released in July. 'I am the great unknown novelist,' Williams told interviewer Roisin Ingle last October , laughing. 'Even after being longlisted for the Booker ,' his wife added, talking about Williams's first book set in Faha, History of the Rain, which was published in 2014. 'It took me a long time to have the confidence to write [about rural Clare] in fiction, after living it for years. Because Ireland has moved on and the intelligentsia in Ireland has really moved on. So, writing these stories, you were going to be viewed as sentimental, nostalgic ... or people would think it's not real.' Whether real or not, it has certainly paid off.
Belfast Telegraph
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Belfast Telegraph
Carol Drinkwater: ‘I blew my All Creatures Great and Small money on travelling the world and designer clothes'
Carol Drinkwater is an author, actor and filmmaker who became a household name for her portrayal of Helen Herriot in the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. Carol was born in London to an Irish mother and was raised for a time on a small farm in Co Laois.
Irish Independent
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Who made the shortlist for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award?
Now celebrating its 31st year, the award continues to honour exceptional fiction from Irish writers and remains a standout moment in the country's literary calendar. Sponsored by Kerry Group, the award carries a total prize fund of €22,000, with €20,000 awarded to the winner and €500 for each shortlisted author. This year's adjudicators are acclaimed authors, Carol Drinkwater and Paul McVeigh. They reviewed over 48 submitted novels and carefully selected five outstanding titles that reflect the strength, imagination, and storytelling brilliance of contemporary Irish fiction. The shortlist for the 2025 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award is: Christine Dwyer Hickey – Our London Lives (Atlantic Books, 2024); Joseph O'Connor – The Ghosts of Rome (Harvill Secker, 2025); Colm Tóibín – Long Island (Picador and Pan Macmillan, 2024); Niall Williams – Time of the Child (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2024), and Donal Ryan – Heart, Be At Peace (Penguin Random House, 2024). Catherine Keogh is Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Kerry Group. She said the company's 31-year partnership with Listowel Writers' Week stands as a testament to its enduring belief in the power of storytelling to inspire and connect. 'Each year, the calibre of literary talent and vision among the shortlisted writers astounds us, and this year is no exception. We extend our congratulations to all of this year's nominees and eagerly await the announcement of the winning work later this month,' she said. Ned O'Sullivan, Chairperson of the Board of Listowel Writers' Week, said the award is a valued part of our festival's celebration of Irish writing, and he thanked Kerry Group for their continued and generous support. 'Congratulations to the five shortlisted authors, your novels reflect the richness and diversity of contemporary Irish fiction, and we're proud to honour your work here in Listowel,' he said. The winner will be announced on 28 May 2025, at the festival opening night event in the Listowel Arms Hotel. For more information and festival updates, visit
Irish Independent
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
My Money: ‘I blew my All Creatures Great and Small money on travelling the world and designer clothes'
Carol Drinkwater is an author, actor and filmmaker who became a household name for her portrayal of Helen Herriot in the BBC series All Creatures Great and Small. Drinkwater was born in London to an Irish mother and was raised for a time on a small farm in Co Laois.
