Michael Crummey a finalist for IMPAC Dublin Award

Buchans, N.L.-born writer Michael Crummey has been nominated for theIMPAC Dublin Literary Award for his historical novel,Galore.

Crummey, 45, is one of 10authors namedon Tuesday to the short list for the 100,000 ($157,000 Cdn) prize, the only literary award in which public libraries submit the initial nominations.

He faces formidable international competition, with three Australian writers and three Irish writers also in the running, including previous winnersDavid Malouf and Colm Toibin.

Galore, a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award in Canada, was nominated for the IMPAC award by public libraries in Ottawa, St. John's and Gander, N.L.

A mix of folklore and human dynamics, itfollows 200 years of life in a Newfoundland community, from the first hardscrabble settlers to come for the cod to the 20th century residents facing the end of fishing. Crummey made the short list for the IMPAC Dublin award for his first novel, River Thieves, and also was nominated for the long list for his second novel, The Wreckage.

The other nominees:

• The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (American).
• The Vagrants by Yiyn Li(Chinese/American).
• Ransom by David Malouf(Australian).
• Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Irish).
• Little Bird of Heaven by Joyce Carol Oates(American).
• Jasper Jones by Craig Silvey(Australian).
• Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (Irish).
• Love and Summer by William Trevor (Irish).
• After the Fire, a Still, Small Voice by Evie Wyld (Australian).

Malouf's Remembering Babylon won the IMPAC Dublin award in1996, while Toibin won for The Master in 2006.

Kingsolver, Oates and Trevor are authors with a huge international following, but the list also includes newcomers such as Silvey and Li.

A five-member international judging panel, chaired by Eugene R. Sullivan, will select one winner who will be announced June 15.