IRISH author Colum McCann, whose tenth book has been longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, has promised to `fly the flag' for his fellow countrymen.
The Booker Prize for Fiction is open to writers of any nationality, writing in English and published in the UK or Ireland, with 13 titles in contention.
Dubliner McCann,who lives in New York, had his book 'Apeirogon' described by the judges as "a gripping novel about two bereaved parents and a moving reflection on what it might mean to make peace between two warring sides".
In a statement he said it had been a strong year for Irish fiction.
"I'm very cognisant of the fact there were many other Irish books that could have made the list. Without sounding cliché, I hope I can fly the flag."
He is vying with Dame Hilary Mantel who is on course to become a triple Booker Prize winner with the third book in her Cromwell trilogy.
The 68-year-old who has scooped the prize twice previously, is longlisted for `The Mirror And The Light', the follow-up to Tudor novels `Wolf Hall' and `Bring Up The Bodies'.
Eight names on the 13-strong Booker Prize longlist are debut novelists - Diane Cook, Avni Doshi, Gabriel Krauze, Kiley Reid, Douglas Stuart, Brandon Taylor, Sophie Ward and C Pam Zhang.
Gaby Wood, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, said: "That's an unusually high proportion, and especially surprising to the judges themselves, who had admired many books by more established authors, and regretted having to let them go."
McCann agreed in an RTÉ interview this year's Booker longlist is reflective of the challenges 2020 has brought.
"Having eight debut authors speaks to the new times we are in. It is invigorating. We have new voices on the streets and in the cultural landscape, and the long list is reflective of that. It brings energy," he said.
The author's plans to have returned to Ireland for Mountains to Sea festival in March were stymied by pandemic restrictions.
'Apeirogon', written over five years, is based on the real-life friendship between an Israeli and a Palestinian father who both lost daughters and McCann "put my heart and soul into it".
The novel is told in 1,001 fragments, which the author says represents the fractured nature of the narrative.
He says it is "a universal story that could be told in Dublin, Belfast, Kentucky, or the Bronx".
