The Goss.ie Women of the Year Awards will take place on Sunday, October 9th at The Royal Marine Hotel Dun Laoghaire, with broadcaster Gráinne Seoige as host.
We will honour women across multiple genres, including business, the arts, social justice and sports. Plus we have launched a special ‘Local Hero’ category, where Goss.ie readers can nominate local women in their area.
This year the awards are in partnership with Google, Casillero del Diablo, Woulfe and Dingle Distillery.Â
Women’s Aid is our official charity partner for 2022 and will be delivering a keynote speech at the awards, we will also be running a charity raffle on the day to raise funds for the charity.
A highly-esteemed and all-female judging panel will decide the winners of each category.
The nominees for the Writer of the Year award, sponsored by Casillero del Diablo, are all extremely talented creatives.
Whether they’re making you laugh out loud with their latest novel, or have you on the edge of your seat with another gripping plot, these women are creative geniuses when it comes to putting pen to paper.
Take a look at this year’s nominees:
Marian Keyes
Marian Keyes is no doubt one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time.
Over the past 30 years, the Dublin native has sold over 35 million copies of her 15-strong back catalogue – including novels like Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married, Rachel’s Holiday, and This Charming Man.
Although she’s known for her light and humorous style, Marian has also covered themes like alcoholism, depression, addiction, cancer, bereavement, and domestic violence through her storytelling.
The 58-year-old released her 15th novel Again Rachel, the sequel to the beloved Rachel’s Holiday, earlier this year – which has received rave reviews.
Louise O’Neill
Louise O’Neill has exploded in popularity since the release of her debut novel Only Ever Yours in 2014.
The Cork native, who has previously been dubbed “the best YA fiction writer alive today”, shot to fame following the release of her second book Asking For It, which was a number-one bestseller and won several awards.
The book inspired several spin-off projects, including a critically-acclaimed stage production, and an RTÉ documentary which explored the issue of consent and tackling sexual assault and rape culture in Ireland.
Louise released her sixth book IDOL earlier this year, a “riveting, compulsive and bold” thriller, which explores the world of online influencers, asking how well we can ever really know those whose carefully curated profiles we follow online.
Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen
Bestselling duo Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen are credited with the creation of the hilarious and much-loved fictional character Aisling.
There have been four instalments of the coveted series over the past five years.
Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling was the best-selling fiction title of 2017, and its sequel The Importance of Being Aisling won the award for best popular fiction book at the 2018 Irish Book Awards.
The third installment Once, Twice, Three Times an Aisling won the same award the following year, and Aisling and the City won the Irish Book Award for popular fiction 2021.
Sophie White
Sophie White released her first book, a memoir/cookbook called Recipes for a Nervous Breakdown in 2016.
Three years later, the author exploded in popularity in 2019 following the release of her second book, and first novel, Filter This.
Filter This was a bestseller, and was followed by a sequel called Unfiltered in 2020.
Sophie released her fourth book, a non-fiction essay collection called Corpsing: My Body and Other Horror Shows in 2021, but returned to fiction earlier this year with her third novel The Snag List.
Published in April, The Snag List has been described as a “smart and laugh-out-loud funny novel about female friendship.”
Jo Spain
Jo Spain is one of Ireland’s most prolific crime writers.
She previously worked in Leinster House and was the vice-chair of InterTrade Ireland, but has been a full-time author and screenwriter since January 2016.
Her first novel With Our Blessing was one of seven books shortlisted in the coveted Richard and Judy search for bestseller competition 2014.
Jo’s latest novel The Last To Disappear was published earlier this year.
Catherine Ryan Howard
Cork native Catherine Ryan Howard is an internationally bestselling crime author, and her debut thriller Distress Signals was published in 2016.
Her 2021 novel 56 Days was named a Best Thriller of 2021 by the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Irish Times, won Crime Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards and was an Irish No.1 bestseller.
Catherine’s latest thriller Run Time was released last month.
The Writer of the Year award is sponsored by Casillero del Diablo.
More than 100 years ago, Don Melchor de Concha y Toro reserved for himself an exclusive batch of his best wines. To keep strangers away from his private reserve, he spread the rumour that the Devil lived in that place. Hence the name: CASILLERO DEL DIABLO, THE DEVIL’S CELLAR.
Their collection of premium wines are made with grapes selected from Chile’s best wine valleys. Each creation portrays the essence and typicity of its variety with a combination of carefully cultivated aromas, flavours, and styles.
Casillero del Diablo’s Reserva range is priced at €12 and is available across retail and off-license stores nationwide. Keep an eye out for offers in your local store. View the full Casillero del Diablo range on their website www.casillerodeldiablo.com.
Find Casillero del Diablo on Instagram @casillerodeldiablo_ire
