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[Alastair Smeaton] Libraries throughout the world play a uniquely important role in this
award and to outline the background to this year's awards please welcome Dublin City Librarian
and President of the library association of Ireland Deirdre Ellis-King
[Deirdre Ellis-King ]My Lord Mayor, excellencies, elected representatives, City Manager John
Tierney, winner of the thirteenth annual IMPAC Dublin literary award, Mr Rawi Hage; special
guests, chairman of IMPAC Europe, Mr Miro Pallas, distinguished guests and friends.
Cities, in particular Dublin City where we stand at this moment, are hotbeds of creative
energy. They have a unique capacity to command; indeed you might say demand an innovation
of spirit, which translates onto the urban landscape in diverse ways. In the case of
Dublin this translation can be identified by what seems to be a compelling instinct
among many Dubliners to grapple creatively with the power of the written word, and indeed
the spoken word. It is an instinct which is recognised in 2008 as far away as Santiago,
Chile, South America where the May 18th issue of El Mercurio, the national newspaper points
to Dublin as a key literary destination, noting such places as the James Joyce Centre and
the Writers' Museum. It also identifies such writers of national and international renown
as James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, WB Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Jonathan Swift. The names
of these literary giants and others whom we are all proud to call Dubliners are recalled
in the names indeed identifying your table placements this evening. But the literary
impact of these writers is of global magnitude. Their reputation internationally signalling
a continuum of excellence linking the past and the contemporary literary tradition of
the city.
Literature continues today to epitomise the urban landscape of a city in which the written
and spoken word is part of what we are as a people. Indeed there are many here this
evening who merit mention in the company of those illustrious names of the past, and they
will forgive me if I mention only one name, that of Claire Hennessy, a young 21 year old
Dublin writer whose first book was published at the age of thirteen going on fourteen.
Her eighth book is due shortly, and what an inspiration she is to other young writers
in Dublin and around the world.
All Dubliners I believe are touched by words, have views about the meaning of words, they
feel the power of words, they recognise the potential for words to influence and to affect
change at both individual and society levels. And perhaps following the same vein as that
heralded by Ptolemy the first who created the great library of Alexandria they see the
value of libraries in effecting societal change through of preservation of recorded knowledge
for public access. And I might note particularly in modern global context we Dubliners and
people in other cities who we have touched through involving them in nomination to the
IMPAC Dublin award see the value in encouraging access to the empowering tool of reading as
a pathway to knowledge and above all to opportunity. In that sense as we celebrate one very worthy
winner we equally celebrate our own values as people of a city in which literature permeates
the very essence of the urban landscape where it acts as a catalyst to stretch the boundaries
of the creative mind.
The IMPAC Dublin is part of an iconographic muse, which makes Dublin a city of literature.
The framework is one of creative energy, which transcends borders of language and culture
at global levels. In celebrating the enduring magic of the written word the IMPAC Dublin
plays a prestigious part in supporting continuity of the creative energy process, through which
Dublin, a city of literature acts as a proactive agent to extend the boundaries of cultural
excellence in an inclusive process. The process is one of giving and receiving of sharing
access to quality literature.
Many Dubliners have assisted in the creation of the International IMPAC Dublin Literary
Award. You Lord Mayor as patron of the award, and your predecessors, among them member of
the European Parliament Gay Mitchell, at his instigation while Lord Mayor the process leading
to the initiation of the award was embarked upon. Other Lord Mayors and previous patrons
present here this evening include Councillor Maurice Ahearn, Councillor Michael Donnelly,
Councillor Mary Frehill, Councillor Dermot Lacey and Councillor Vincent Jackson. At executive
level, City Manager John Tierney, Deputy Manager Philip Maguire and others support the continued
building of an award which crystallises at local and international levels, Dublin's literary
tradition and moreover the continuing strength of contemporary literary giants who stand
side-by-side with such as Rawi Hage.
The staff of the city public library system who have administered the award processes
since its conception merit special recognition. For they have been instrumental in creating
a unique local and global space for the award, building on a synergy between libraries and
literature which translates into a measure of collaborative excellence without parallel
at international level.
The contribution of the award committee representative of City Council and IMPAC must be noted. Unheralded
they individually and collectively push the boundaries of achievement and partnership
each year. There are many who play a part what I will mention in particular Cathy McKenna,
Senior Librarian, Alan Breen, City Council Press Officer and Sinead Matthews of IMPAC
who efficiently and effectively keep the processes moving behind the scenes. And of course the
writers, the publishers, the expert judging panels, to date involving over sixty distinguished
people in the international literary world. And I want to thank this year's team and also
of course the non-voting chair, senior judge Eugene Sullivan. IMPAC have of course been
critical to the award development and thank you indeed to European Chairman Miro Pallas
and the President Bob Jacobson, who is here this evening as well, for their continued
and sustained support for the Dublin Literary Award over a period of thirteen years.
It is however public libraries worldwide, uniquely in a world literary context who have
sustained the nomination processes of the IMPAC Dublin since its inception. This has
happened through a totally transparent process of nominations, which crosses all boundaries
of language, of geography, of cultural diversity. The process provides a context for which capital
and major cities regardless of the relative state of economic or political development,
within their own country or their own city, or the scale or scope of their library services
have been able to pursue the common objective of bringing books and readers closer together.
The 162 nominating public libraries in 45 countries and 122 cities signal by their existence
and their actions the value which world communities accord to libraries and literature. That value
translates significantly into a unique force, a global community of libraries which has
a cumulative power to exercise change, to influence and to enable continuing societal
development.
I do not underestimate, nor should anybody the achievement undertaken by the Dublin City
Library system in harnessing the unique strength of that global library community in the interests
of promoting world literature through the IMPAC Dublin. Evidentially that force of participating
libraries represents a winning combination from which when coupled with an expert judging
panel, this year's worthy winning title and author has emerged. Appropriately a representative
of that global community of public libraries Mademoiselle Annie Garden, Bibliothèque Municipale
de Lyon joins us in celebration here this evening and I now in conclusion ask her to
come forward and on behalf of all nominating libraries worldwide accept a citation which
recognises their special contribution to the 2008 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
Thank you