2014 IMPAC winner announced

The Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez has been announced as the winner of the 2014 IMPAC award for his novel The Sound of Things Falling. Translated from Spanish, The Sound of Things Falling is a literary thriller set against the background of Colombia’s tragic history as a country destroyed by the drugs trade.

This year’s shortlist featured 10 writers from across the globe, including five novels in translation from Argentina, Colombia, France, Norway and the Netherlands. Two books by Irish authors, The Spinning Heart by Donal Ryan and The Light of Amsterdam by David Park, were on the shortlist.

The IMPAC, which has been awarded annually since 1996, is the world’s most valuable literary prize, with the winner receiving €100,000. Nominations for the prize are made by participating libraries in capital and major cities across the world, who can nominate up to three novels each year. This year, over 400 library services in 177 countries worldwide participated.

Last year’s prize was awarded to Irish author Kevin Barry for his novel City of Bohane. Previous winners include Nobel Laureate Orhan Pamuk, who received the title in 2003 for My Name is Red, and Colm Toibin, whose Henry James inspired novel The Master won in 2006.