While being on a residency in Co. Mayo, I received exciting news of the nomination for the prestigious Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture. Myles after Myles in Strabane, Co. Tyrone is one of only ten sculptures shortlisted for outstanding public art projects across the UK together with works by New York-based Miya Ando, Sir Antony Gormley and Conrad Shawcross. This is my second public art piece that has been shortlisted for this award after To the People of the Sea on East Strand in Portrush in 2012. The current shortlist for the award can be seen on the PMSA website. The winner will be announced at the award ceremony in London in November 2015.

The 2.5m high artwork Myles after Myles outside Strabane Alley Theatre and library celebrates the life and work of satirist and writer Flann O'Brien aka Myles na gCoppaleen. The figure of the writer in his iconic coat and Fedora hat rests against three 2.5m high books, including An Béal Bocht, The Dalkey Archive and At Swim-Two-Birds. The perforated book covers are illuminated at night, creating a spectacular effect. Myles returned to his home town Strabane in 2013 as part of a cross-border funded public realm scheme for Lifford and Strabane.