THE BEST bookshops in Ireland for 2022 have been revealed in the longlist for the An Post Bookshop of the Year award.
12 bookshops have made it on to the list, which was announced yesterday, and six will make it on to the shortlist to be revealed on 20 October.
The winner will then be announced on 23 November and will receive €5,000, with regional winners being announced on 10 November.
The An Post Irish Book Awards celebrates Irish writing and authors, and last year the bookshop of the year category was introduced to acknowledge the significant role played by independent bookshops and local branches of bookshop chains in their local communities.
Kenny’s Bookshop in Galway was crowned the overall winner in 2021.
The longlist of 12 bookshops around Ireland for 2022 are:
- Kerr’s Bookshop, Clonakilty, Cork
- Philip’s Bookshop, Mallow, Cork
- Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop, Middle Street, Galway
- Waterstones, Drogheda, Louth
- Tertulia, Westport, Mayo
- Liber, Sligo
- Bridge Street Books, Wicklow
- Chapters Bookstore, Parnell Street, Dublin
- Books at One LetterFrack, Letterfrack, Connemara, Galway
- Bridge Books, Dromore, County Down
- Books on the Green, Sandymount, Dublin
- Genius Juniors, Online Bookshop
To make it to the longlist, customers were asked to vote for their favourite bookshops and to explain why they are their favourite.
The shops that received the most votes were then long listed and invited by judges to enter a written submission.
The next stage involves mystery shoppers visiting the longlisted bookshops as part of the judging process, which will help in putting together the shortlist of six bookshops.
Brendan Corbett, Chairperson of the An Post Irish Book Awards, said:
“Bookshops sit at the heart of their communities’ cultural and social lives, and we introduced this category last year to acknowledge the important contribution they make to not only their communities and readers, but the significant role they play in the Irish book business. The holy trinity of bookshops, writers and readers is a wonderful alliance we should all support, and that’s why I’m delighted to see 12 such deserving bookshops on the longlist.”
A TV programme about this year’s awards will be broadcast on RTÉ One television in December and will culminate in one of the 2022 winning titles being announced as the An Post Irish Book of the Year 2022.
