'Heart, Be at Peace' by Donal Ryan named An Post Irish Book of the Year 2024

Ryan’s book was unveiled as the An Post Irish Book of the Year during a one-hour special television show aired on RTÉ one on Thursday hosted by broadcaster Oliver Callan. 

The title won the ‘Eason Novel of the Year Award’ at the recent An Post Irish Book Awards and was chosen as the overall An Post Irish Book of the Year 2024 winner by a distinguished panel of judges.

The six nominated titles were:

• Heart, Be at Peace – Donal Ryan (Doubleday, Penguin Random House) 
• Fia and the Last Snow Deer – Eilish Fisher, illustrated by Dermot Flynn (Puffin, Penguin Random House Children’s 
• Frankie – Graham Norton (Coronet) 
• A Stranger in the Family – Jane Casey (Hemlock Press)
• Obsessed: The Autobiography – Johnny Sexton with Peter O’Reilly (Penguin Sandycove) 
• Nature Boy: A Journey of Birdsong and Belonging – Seán Ronayne (Hachette Books Ireland) 

Heart, Be at Peace received a chorus of positive reviews upon publication. Told in 21 voices, it is a lyrical novel that delves into themes of grief and healing, and can be read either independently or as a companion to his multi-award-winning novel The Spinning Heart.

Donal Ryan is an award-winning author from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, whose work has been published in over 20 languages to major critical acclaim. 

The Spinning Heart won the Guardian First Book Award, the EU Prize for Literature (Ireland), and Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in 2012. It was also shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, longlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Desmond Elliot Prize, and was voted Irish Book of the Decade by the Dublin Book Festival.

His fourth novel, From a Low and Quiet Sea, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award 2018, and won the Jean Monnet Prize for European Literature. 

Ryan lectures in creative writing at the University of Limerick.