Seven Irish novels are among 160 titles nominated by libraries worldwide for the €100,000 International Dublin Literary Award.

The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry, Academy Street by Mary Costello, The Undertaking by Audrey Magee, Unravelling Oliver by Liz Nugent, The Thrill of it All by Joseph O’Connor, Nora Webster by Colm Tóibín and The Diary of Mary Travers by Eibhear Walshe are among the titles from authors from seven different countries for the world’s most valuable annual literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English, formerly known as the International Impac Dublin Literary Award.

Organised by Dublin City Council, the 2016 award was launched on 9 November by patron and Dublin Lord Mayor Críona Ní Dhálaigh, who said the award, now in its 21st year, “has made a fantastic contribution to the literary life of Dublin and brings significant benefits to the city. It’s right that, as the Award is now entirely a city initiative, sponsored by the city council.”

The 160 books eligible for the 2016 award were nominated by libraries in 118 cities and 44 countries worldwide. Fifty-three of these are works in translation, spanning 19 languages, and 49 are first novels.

The book that received most nominations this year is Anthony Doerr’s All The Light We Cannot See, chosen by 14 libraries in Canada, Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands and the USA. Colm Tóibín is one of two previous winners nominated (he took the prize in 2006) along with 2007 winner Per Petterson.

They will be judged by a panel comprising Irish writer Carlo Gébler, British novelist, critic and academic Ian Sansom; Bulgarian translator Iglika Vassileva, Australian novelist Meaghan Delahunt and Mexican writer Juan Pablo Villalobos. The non-voting chairperson is retired US federal judge Eugene R Sullivan.

All of the novels nominated for the award are available to borrow from public libraries in Dublin and nationwide via intra-library loan. The full list of 160 titles is available on dublinliteraryaward.ie with the shortlist to come on 12 April, while Dublin’s Lord Mayor will announce the winner on 9 June.