DUBLIN, Ireland - Montreal writer Rawi Hage won one of the world's most lucrative literary prizes Thursday for his debut novel "De Niro's Game,'' about two childhood friends who take different paths to survive amid civil war in the Lebanese capital.
Five judges from Ireland, Britain, Spain and the United States selected Hage for the $155,000 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. His work beat 136 other books from 45 countries, all works published in English in 2006. All the books had been nominated by libraries worldwide.
Hage is the second Canadian to win the award. The first was Alastair Macleod in 2001 for his novel "No Great Mischief.''
Hage, 44, fled war-torn Beirut in the early 1980s, studied at the New York Institute of Photography and settled in 1991 in Montreal, where he has built a career as a photographer and essayist.
The judges praised "De Niro's Game'' as "an eloquent, forthright and at times beautifully written first novel. Ringing with insight and authenticity, the novel shows how war can envelop lives.''
It's the story of Bassam and George, childhood friends who grow to adulthood in Beirut, and the different roads their two lives take in the war-torn city. Bassam commits a series of petty crimes to finance his escape from the city while George builds his power in the criminal underworld.
It was shortlisted in Canada for both a Giller and Governor General's Award.
Hage received the IMPAC prize in a ceremony at Dublin City Hall where he declared himself "a fortunate man.''
"After a long journey of war, displacement and separation, I feel that I am one of the few wanderers who is privileged enough to have been rewarded, and for that I am very grateful,'' he said.
Hage said he sought to follow a tradition of authors "who have chosen the painful and costly portrayal of truth over tribal self-righteousness.''
The other finalists were "The Attack,'' by Yasmina Khadra; "Let It Be Morning,'' by Sayed Kashua; "The Woman Who Waited,'' by Andrei Makine; "The Sweet & Simple Kind,'' by Yasmine Gooneratne; "Dreams of Speaking,'' by Gail Jones; "The Speed of Light,'' by Javier Cercas, and "Winterwood,'' by Patrick McCabe -- the lone Irish finalist.
The prize is run by Dublin's public library system and financed by a Connecticut-based management consultancy called Improved Management Productivity and Control. IMPAC has its European headquarters in Dublin.
This fall, Hage will be returning to WordFest, the Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival, with his new novel "Cockroach.'' The festival is scheduled for Oct. 14-19. He was last there in 2006 with "De Niro's Game.'' Both novels were published by House of Anansi Press.
