The establishment of the Dalkey Literary Awards in 2020 marked a major new step for the hugely popular Dalkey Book Festival, which has grown tenfold in size since 2010 to be the largest literary festival in the country, with the support of Zurich.

The Dalkey Literary Awards, now in its second year, recognise writers in two categories: Novel of the Year and Emerging Writer. Writers resident or born in Ireland and published in Ireland or the UK in 2021 will be recognised by the awards.

The winner of the Novel of the Year will receive €20,000 and the Emerging Writer will receive €10,000.

This year the shortlist for each category is proposed by a designated Nominating Panel made up of 15 well-known critics, writers and public figures within the Irish literary scene. Publishers were also invited to submit nominations. Each category will have three judges to review the shortlisted nominees and select one overall winner.

About Zurich Insurance

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. known as Zurich is a leading multi-line insurer that serves its customers in global and local markets. With about 54,000 employees globally, it provides a wide range of property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in more than 210 countries and territories. Zurich’s customers include individuals, small businesses, and mid-sized and large companies, as well as multinational corporations.

Zurich Insurance plc (ZIP) is the Zurich Group's main legal entity for writing general insurance business in Europe. ZIP has been headquartered in the Irish Financial Services Centre in Dublin for over a decade and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Zurich Group. ZIP writes non-life insurance business in Ireland and from its 12 regulated branches in Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, Portugal, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.

Zurich’s domestic Irish business employs over 1,000 people in Ireland across its locations in Dublin and Wexford. It is one of Ireland’s leading insurance companies offering a wide range of products including private motor and home insurance, commercial property, farm and professional indemnity insurance as well as Pensions, Investments and Protection products.