Fish? Fowl? Which Is It?

Authors of crime-related fiction are all over the longlist of nominees for this year’s International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards, touted as “the largest and most international prize of its kind for a single work of fiction published in English.” They include Harlan Coben (Promise Me), Kate Atkinson (One Good Turn), Matthew Pearl (The Poe Shadow), and Stef Penney (The Tenderness of Wolves). However, Irish author and blogger Declan Burke says he’s “in something of a quandary” over the three nominees from his own country--Claire Kilroy, John Boyne, and Michael Collins--who “tend to use crime plots to keep their pages turning.”

“Trouble is,” Burke writes, “neither the delectable Ms. Kilroy (Tenderwire) nor the pout-tastic Collins (The Secret Life of Robert E. Pendleton) are particularly impressed by crime fiction, while self-confessed crime nut Boyne has been nominated for The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which is acted out against the backdrop of one the greatest crimes of the 20th century but isn’t a crime novel itself.” Reasons for a quandary, indeed.

The shortlist of IMPAC award contenders is scheduled to be announced in April 2008, with the winner--who will receive €100,000--to be named in June.

READ MORE: “Crowd of Contenders Jostle for IMPAC Prize,” by Michelle Pauli (The Guardian); “Six Irish Authors Include on IMPAC List” (The Irish Times).