Book News: Rawi Hage’s De Niro’s Game Snags IMPAC Dublin Award
Michael Rogers -- Library Journal, 6/13/2008 12:04:00 PM
- Bests 137 titles nominated by 162 public libraries from 45 countries
- Hage championed by Winnipeg Public Library
- Award carries $156,000 purse
Rawi Hage June 12 was named winner of the 13th annual International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
for his novel De Niro’s Game. The award’s presenters said that the Beirut born writer “lived through nine years of civil war in the city before emigrating to Canada.
His debut novel beat off competition from 137 titles, nominated by 162 public libraries from 45 countries.” Hage was nominated by Winnipeg Public Library for the award, which carries a hefty $156,000 prize, making it one of the richest literary awards.
The novel was first published by House of Anansi Press, Canada, in 2006 and later released in the U.S. by Random House imprint Steerforth Press in 2007. The book follows two boys growing up in war-ravaged Beirut who must either turn to crime or leave the country in order to survive.
