New York based Irish writer Colum McCann has been shortlisted for the prestigious US National Book Awards.

McCann's book, "Let The Great World Spin," is one of five nominated in the fiction shortlist.

McCann, who also wrote "Zoli," "Dancer," "This Side of Brightness," and "Songdogs" is up against:

the following four books:

"American Salvage" by Bonnie Jo Campbell

"In Other Rooms, Other Wonders" by Daniyal Mueenuddin

"Lark and Termite" by Jayne Anne Phillips

"Far North" by Marcel Theroux.

McCann, whose father Sean worked for the Irish Press newspaper in Ireland, lives in Manhattan with his wife and three children.

He is a regular contributor to the New Yorker , the New York Times Magazine , the Atlantic Monthly and the Paris Review.

McCann admits to feeling "inordinately blessed" in his life. "I have had such a great run at things. I live here in the city, but I can hear the voice of Ireland in almost everything," he says.

The awards, which are organized by the National Book Foundation, will celebrate their 60th anniversary this year.

The winner will be announced at a gala ceremony in New York on November 18.