We’re pleased to announce that UNCERTAIN WEIGHTS AND MEASURES by Jocelyn Parr (Goose Lane Editions) has been longlisted for the 2019 International Dublin Literary Award!
The International Dublin Literary Award, managed by Dublin City Council’s library service, offers a prize of €100,000 to the author of the winning book. Titles are nominated by invited public libraries around the world on the basis of ‘high literary merit’. 10 books will be shortlisted from this year’s 141 longlisted titles on April 4th, 2019. The winner will be announced on June 12th, 2019.
The nominating librarian says: “Uncertain Weights and Measures is “a historical novel that feels refreshing contemporary… This remarkable debut novel is both a compelling love story and a thoughtful exploration of the human heart and mind”, author Johanna Skibsrud. Main characters Tatiana and Sasha are fully developed, complex and compelling characters, allowing Parr to tackle weighty themes. The novel explores timeless dialectical conflicts between art and science, politics and idealism, rational thought and emotions/love, past and present, producing a historical novel grounded in late 1920s Russia that will resonate with thoughtful contemporary readers. Parr also seamlessly incorporates a wealth of meticulously researched scientific facts. Shortlisted for the Scotia Giller Prize for fiction, this book is an excellent example of the fine literature championed by the New Brunswick independent publisher, Goose Lane Editions.”
JOCELYN PARR was born in New Zealand, but grew up on the West Coast. She holds a PhD in English Literature, which she completed as a cotutelle with the Erasmus Mundus Doctoral programme, graduating from the universities of Tübingen and Perpignan. Her writing has appeared in publications in France and Germany, as well in Canadian literary magazines such as Brick and Grain. Her debut novel, Uncertain Weights and Measures, was shortlisted for the Governor General’s award for English-language fiction.
For more information on the award and for the full longlist, please visit Dublinliteraryaward.ie/nominees.
Congratulations to Jocelyn and all the longlisted authors!