Copyright evoke
Broadcaster Miriam O'Callaghan could technically be in line to present herself with a gong at Irish Book awards next month. Her autobiography, Miriam: Life, Work, Everything, has been short-listed in the Dubray Biography of the Year - even though it is yet to go on sale. She is a regular host of the ceremony and the shortlist for this year's An Post Irish Book Awards was announced on Wednesday, October 22, but Miriam's autobiography will not be on shelves until this coming Thursday. Even Miriam, 65, admits: 'I always present the Irish Book Awards each year and agreed to do this year too, long before my nomination. 'This often crops up with actors and presenters, who are presenting TV and Film Awards Events, when they are also nominees. Whatever the Irish Book Awards decide to do will be fine with me.' So to avoid any embarrassment on stage, Miriam will stand aside for the award announcement in her category, handing the duty to RTÉ radio colleague and comedian Oliver Callan. A spokesman for the awards explained that 'eligibility dates for entries for the Irish Book Awards 2005 are November 1, 2024 and October 31, 2025'. 'Books submitted for consideration need to have been published between these dates. Each year, members of our selection committees review copies of books already published, as well as advance proof copies of books yet to be published, so they can all be assessed alongside each other.' The other books Miriam will go up against are A Time for Truth: My Father Jason and My Search for Justice and Healing by Sarah Corbett Lynch; She Died Young: A Life in Fragments by Brenda Fricker; Speaking My Mind by Leo Varadkar; Still: A Memoir by Julia Kelly; and The Bass Player: Surviving the Miami Showband Massacre by Stephen Travers with Yvonne Watterson. An hour-long TV special, which will be hosted by Callan, will be broadcast on RTÉ One on December 11 on the An Post Irish Book Awards Book of the Year 2025.
