29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Niall Williams wins €20k Irish Novel of the Year award
Author Niall Williams has been named as the winner of the 2025 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for his novel Time of the Child.
Williams was announced the winner at the opening night of the Listowel Literary Festival, a celebration of literature which features events with acclaimed writers, panels, workshops, and performances across Listowel until June 1.
Now in its 31st year, the award remains one of the most esteemed literary honours in the country, celebrating outstanding Irish fiction.
The award, sponsored by Kerry Group, has a prize fund of €22,000, with €20,000 for the winner and €500 for each shortlisted author.
This year's adjudicators, acclaimed authors Carol Drinkwater and Paul McVeigh, reviewed over 50 submitted novels before selecting the winner from a powerful shortlist that included Christine Dwyer Hickey, Joseph O'Connor, Colm Tóibín, and Donal Ryan.
Niall Williams, winner of the 2025 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award for his novel Time of the Child, pictured with the winner is Ned O'Sullivan Writers Week. Picture: Domnick Walsh © Eye Focus LTD.
McVeigh said that judging the prize this year was no small task and complimented the quality of the entries, which he said '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,' he said.
'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 described Williams's writing as exciting and exquisite and touched on how he brings his characters to life on the page.
'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,' she said.
"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.
'This is the third time I've judged this prize and each time I'm reminded of the richness of Irish fiction today. Ireland truly is a treasure chest of brilliant modern novelists.'
Chief corporate affairs officer at Kerry Group Catherine Keogh praised the continued partnership with Listowel Writers' Week.
'Every year, the calibre of writing reminds us why Ireland continues to lead on the global literary stage,' she said. 'We extend our heartfelt congratulations to Niall Williams on this well-deserved recognition,' she said.
