Galwegians have the chance to choose their favourite bookshop in the search for the ‘An Post Bookshop of the Year’ 2022.
The ‘An Post Bookshop of the Year’ category is designed to acknowledge the significant role played by independent bookshops and local branches of bookshop chains in helping their local communities to find and savour the titles of their choice. The new category was unveiled last year and thousands of votes were cast, with Kenny’s Bookshop in Galway crowned the overall winner.
Customers can click onto www.anpost.com/bookshopoftheyear to submit their nomination for their favourite bookshop. They will also have the option to explain the reason for their choice. Readers can also enter by scanning the QR code in their preferred bookshop and following the instructions. Everyone who votes will be entered into a draw to win a €100 book voucher.
An Post Irish Book Awards chairperson John Treacy, says bookshops sit at the heart of communities’ cultural and social lives.
"We introduced this category last year to acknowledge the important contribution they make, to not only their communities and readers, but the significant role they play in the Irish book business. The holy trinity of bookshops, writers and readers is a wonderful alliance we should all support, so I’d very much encourage everyone to support their local bookshop and vote for them in the An Post Bookshop of the Year category.”
Nominations for the ‘An Post Bookshop of the Year’ close on September 2 at 5pm. The 12 bookshops around Ireland with the most votes will then be longlisted and invited by the judges to enter a written submission.
Mystery shoppers will visit the 12 shops as part of the judging process. Following this, a shortlist of six shops will be finalised for the ‘An Post Bookshop of the Year’ and they will be officially announced on October 20. The overall winner will be presented with their trophy at the An Post Irish Book Awards event on November 23rd. The winner will receive a trophy along with a prize worth €5,000 from An Post Commerce.
Other categories in the An Post Irish Book Awards include Novel of the Year, Children’s (junior and senior ), Cookery, Crime Fiction, Popular Fiction, Non-fiction, Sports, Short Story, Poetry, Teen and Young Adult and Irish Language.
Aoife Roantree, chair of Bookselling Ireland, says booksellers are unsung cultural heroes, "working every day to connect readers with books they'll love, to foster a love of reading among children and those new to the world of literature, and to support great new writing and illustrating talent as well as stalwart reader favourites".
The shortlist for all categories in the An Post Irish Book Awards 2022 will be announced on Thursday October 20, while the winners will be announced on Wednesday November 23. A television programme will be broadcast on RTÉ One television in December and will culminate in one of the 2022 winning titles being announced as the ‘An Post Irish Book of the Year 2022’. www.anpostirishbookawards.ie
