June 13, 2012 - 3:47 PM
DUBLIN - British author Jon McGregor has won this year's International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, one of the world's most lucrative book prizes.
His novel "Even the Dogs" beat out a short list that included American author Jennifer Egan's Pulitzer Prize-winning "A Visit from the Goon Squad," and "The Matter with Morris" by Winnipeg author David Bergen.
The IMPAC prize, worth 100,000 euros (or about C$129,000), was handed out Wednesday in Dublin.
"'Even the Dogs' is a fearless experiment which shows us in close-up detail the lives of a gathering of homeless addicts as they go about their daily forage for shelter, drink or a fix," said the prize judges, who chose the short list from 146 titles nominated by libraries from 45 countries.
The IMPAC prize, managed by Dublin City Libraries, is billed as "the world's most valuable annual literary award for a single work of fiction published in English."
Canadian author Alistair MacLeod won the award in 2001 for "No Great Mischief."
Last year's winner was Irish writer Colum McCann for "Let the Great World Spin."
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012