Elizabeth has been awarded the 2017 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature at a ceremony in the Provost’s House, Trinity University Dublin.
The €10,000 prize is awarded for a body of work by a young Irish writer that shows exceptional promise.
Literary agent Jonathan Williams, chair of the selection committee, said: “Although the prize is awarded to a writer on the basis of the literary excellence of a body of work, it is not unusual for it to be conferred when the writer has produced just a single book – as with Colin Barrett and Sara Baume. Elizabeth Reapy’s debut novel, Red Dirt, published in 2016, was reason enough for her to be chosen. The six members of the selection panel read work by 15 to 20 eligible writers, but were unanimous in their choice. Red Dirt is timely in its subject matter – the migration of Ireland’s young generation – inventively narrated in three voices, and displays a sure-footed mastery of the novel form.”
ELIZABETH REAPY - WRITER 