THE IMPAC award is one of the world's biggest literary prizes and presumably the organisers have countless heavy duty writers to choose from when it comes to getting a celeb for the awards dinner. For tonight's bash in Dublin Castle they're bringing in Jeffrey Archer.
He may not bed literary titan, nor is he ever likely to bag the IMPAC award (which this year went to David Malouf) but then Archer is undeniably one of the world's most popular writers his three book deal with his publishers is said to be worth a staggering £22 million. He is also an old friend of IMPAC chairman Jim Irwin.
Freddie Cook from IMPAC says the awards dinner will always take place in Dublin on the eve of Bloomsday so it will be part of the city's many and varied Bloomsday celebrations.
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