By turns savage, thrilling and unexpectedly tender, All Them Dogs is a gripping story of violence, lust, and greed that explores one man’s struggles to find his place in an unsparing world
Djamel White
Djamel White is an Irish writer based in Dublin
After leaving school early at age 17, he started volunteering in the Irish non-profit literary organisation Fighting Words, established by Roddy Doyle in 2009. Working there reinforced his love of writing as something worth pursuing. At 21, he went on to attend University College Dublin, where he earned a BA in English and Creative Writing, followed by an MFA in Creative Writing, and was mentored by writers such as Declan Hughes, Sarah Moss and Anne Enright. He has been the recipient of a Literature Bursary Award and an Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland.
His debut novel All Them Dogs was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2026.
Djamel White on All Them Dogs
‘I wanted to write something that felt immediate and didn’t dwell on itself, something that clipped along at an exciting pace and was eventful but still contained a strong emotional throughline. I was inspired mostly by the area I am from and the people who occupy it, with a dash of Elmore Leonard and Dashiell Hammett for structure and style. I was also inspired by some superb voice-driven work I’d read recently such as Cherry by Nico Walker, Hostages by Oisin Fagan and The Round House by Louise Erdrich, The Thing About December by Donal Ryan, The Benefactors by Wendy Erskine. These all come to mind because they are all also, in one way or another, concerned with one or more acts of violence that tend to upend a fragile status quo.’
Read the full interview here.
All nominated books
By turns savage, thrilling and unexpectedly tender, All Them Dogs is a gripping story of violence, lust, and greed that explores one man's struggles to find his place in an unsparing world
Features
- Book extract
An extract from All Them Dogs by Djamel White
- Book recommendations
