Paul Murray took home the first-ever Nero Gold Prize, given to a book by a writer based in the U.K. or Ireland, for his novel The Bee Sting.
The Irish author’s victory comes six weeks after he was named the winner in the fiction category of the new literary prizes. The awards are given in four categories: fiction, nonfiction, children’s fiction, and debut fiction. The winners of those prizes compete for the overall Nero Gold Prize, which comes with a cash award of 30,000 British pounds, or about $38,330.
The Bee Sting, published in the U.S. by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, follows the troubled Barnes family, who are struggling with a series of problems including financial issues, bullying, and alcoholism. The novel was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize and the Booker Prize, and the winner of the An Post Irish Book of the Year award.
Gerry Ford, the founder and group CEO of Caffè Nero, the coffeehouse chain that sponsors the prize, said in a statement: “I’m delighted that The Bee Sting has become the inaugural winner of the Nero Gold Prize Book of the Year. It’s an exceptional book which carries emotion, honesty and authenticity. To have such an impressive and well written book as the first winner of our Awards feels right. The Awards are designed to recognize great writers, great literature and a great read, and I think they have done exactly that.”
Caffè Nero established the Nero Book Awards last year to fill the void created by the cessation of the Costa Book Awards, which were also sponsored by a U.K.-based coffeehouse chain.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
