The Dalkey Literary Awards support writers resident in or born in Ireland and published in Ireland or the UK in 2021. There are two categories: Novel and Emerging Writer.

Publishers are invited to submit their nominations, up to a maximum of five titles in each category.  The closing date for receipt of nominations from publishers for the 2022 Awards was Friday 11^th February 2022.

There is a Nominating panel made up of 15 nominators including writers, literary agents, booksellers, academics and journalists. The Nominating Panel together nominate books published in 2021 by Irish writers and arrive at a shortlist of up to six books for each category. There are two distinct judging panels, one for each category, both made up of three members, typically an author, a journalist and a person in the public eye who loves reading. Each judging panel then reads the six shortlisted books for the relevant category before meeting on two occasions to agree one winner.