Brian Moore (novelist) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Brian Moore
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| Born | 25 August 1921 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 11 January 1999 (aged 77) Malibu, California, United States |
| Occupation | Novelist, screenwriter, journalist |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Canadian (from 1948) |
| Genre | Realism, historical fiction, fantasy, science fiction |
| Notable awards | Authors' Club First Novel Award (1955) James Tait Black Memorial Prize (1975) Governor General's Award for English-language fiction (1960 and 1975) The Sunday Express Book of the Year (1987) Los Angeles Times' Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement (1994) |
| Spouse |
Jacqueline ("Jackie") Sirois (née Scully)
(m. 1952–1967)Jean Russell (née Denney)
(m. 1967–1999) |
| Children |
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Brian Moore (born August 25, 1921 – died January 11, 1999) was a famous writer and screenwriter. He was from Northern Ireland but later moved to Canada and then the United States. People praised his novels for showing what life was like in Northern Ireland during and after World War II. He also explored the difficult times of The Troubles. Many called him "one of the few genuine masters of the contemporary novel."
Moore won several important awards, including the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1975. He also received the first Sunday Express Book of the Year award in 1987. His books were nominated three times for the prestigious Booker Prize. Besides writing novels, Brian Moore also wrote scripts for movies, and many of his books were turned into films.
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Growing Up in Belfast
Brian Moore was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was one of nine children in a large Roman Catholic family. His grandfather had become a Catholic and was a strict lawyer. Brian's father, James Bernard Moore, was a well-known surgeon and a devoted Catholic. His mother, Eileen McFadden Moore, was a nurse from County Donegal. Brian's uncle was Eoin MacNeill, a famous Irish nationalist who started the Conradh na Gaeilge (Gaelic League).
Moore attended St Malachy's College in Belfast. He left school in 1939 after not passing his final exams. The school described in his novel The Feast of Lupercal is very similar to St Malachy's College. Many believe it's a fictional version of his old school, which he didn't remember fondly.
Wartime Service and Moving Abroad
During World War II, Brian Moore volunteered as an Air Raid Warden. He helped out during the Belfast Blitz in April and May 1941. Later, he worked as a civilian for the British Army in North Africa, Italy, and France. After the war, he worked in Eastern Europe for the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.
In 1948, he moved to Canada and became a reporter for the Montreal Gazette. He became a Canadian citizen that year. Moore lived in Canada for ten years, until 1958. In 1959, he moved to New York after receiving a special writing award called a Guggenheim Fellowship. He stayed in New York until his divorce in 1967. Then, he moved to Malibu, California, with his new wife, Jean. He also taught creative writing at UCLA. Even though he lived mostly in California, Moore continued to spend part of each year in Canada until he passed away.
His Novels and Main Ideas
Brian Moore wrote his first novels while living in Canada. His very first books were thrillers, which are exciting adventure stories. He published them under his own name or using other names like Bernard Mara or Michael Bryan. He later said he didn't like these early thrillers.
His novel Judith Hearne was very important to him. He considered it his first real novel, and it was different from his thrillers. This book is still one of his most respected works. Ten American publishers first rejected it before a British publisher finally accepted it. Judith Hearne was later made into a film, starring the British actress Maggie Smith.
Many of Moore's other novels were also made into movies. These include Intent to Kill, The Luck of Ginger Coffey, Catholics, Black Robe, Cold Heaven, and The Statement. He also helped write the script for Alfred Hitchcock's movie Torn Curtain. He wrote the screenplay for The Blood of Others, which was based on a novel by Simone de Beauvoir.
Moore often used his novels to criticize his schooling in Belfast. This can be seen in books like The Feast of Lupercal and The Emperor of Ice-Cream.
Some of his books explored themes that were against strict religious rules and the power of the church. He often spoke strongly about how the Catholic Church affected life in Ireland. A common idea in his novels is the concept of the Catholic priesthood. He sometimes wrote about priests who lost their faith. However, many of his novels also showed a deep understanding and support for people struggling with their faith and religious beliefs, especially in Black Robe.
Praise for His Work
The famous writer Graham Greene once said that Brian Moore was his favorite living novelist. Moore, however, sometimes felt this praise was a bit of a burden.
Personal Life
Brian Moore was married twice. His first marriage was in 1952 to Jacqueline ("Jackie") Sirois, who was also a journalist from Canada. They had a son named Michael in 1953, who later became a professional photographer. They divorced in 1967. Moore then married his second wife, Jean Russell, in October 1967. Jean was a former TV commentator in Canada.
The poet Seamus Heaney wrote a poem called Remembering Malibu about Moore's beachside house in Malibu, California. Moore's widow, Jean, lived in the house until it was destroyed by the Woolsey Fire in 2018.
His Passing
Brian Moore passed away at his home in Malibu on January 11, 1999, at the age of 77. He died from a lung condition called pulmonary fibrosis. He had been working on a new novel about the 19th-century French poet Arthur Rimbaud. His last published work was an essay called "Going Home." He wrote it just before he died, inspired by a visit to the grave of his family friend, the Irish nationalist Bulmer Hobson, in Connemara.
This essay was published in The New York Times on February 7, 1999. Even though Moore often had mixed feelings about Ireland and being Irish, he wrote at the end of the essay: "The past is buried until, in Connemara, the sight of Bulmer Hobson's grave brings back those faces, those scenes, those sounds and smells which now live only in my memory. And in that moment I know that when I die I would like to come home at last to be buried here in this quiet place among the grazing cows."
His Legacy
In 1996, the Creative Writers Network in Northern Ireland started the Brian Moore Short Story Awards. These awards continued until 2008.
Two biographies have been written about Brian Moore: Brian Moore: The Chameleon Novelist (1998) by Denis Sampson and Brian Moore: A Biography (2002) by Patricia Craig. Another book, Brian Moore and the Meaning of the Past (2007) by Patrick Hicks, looks closely at Moore's works. You can also find information about the publishing of Moore's novel Judith Hearne and the end of his first marriage in Diana Athill's memoir Stet (2000).
In 1975, Moore arranged for his writing materials, letters, and other documents to be kept at the University of Calgary Library in Canada. His archives, which include unfilmed screenplays, drafts of novels, notes, a journal, and his letters, are now at The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin.
In 2021, to celebrate 100 years since Moore's birth, a project called "Brian Moore at 100" was started. It aimed to re-examine his work and get more people interested in it. The project included research, public events, and an international academic conference.
Awards and Honors
- 1955 Beta Sigma Phi award (for Judith Hearne, as the best first novel by a Canadian author)
- 1955 Authors' Club First Novel Award (for Judith Hearne, chosen by C.S. Forester)
- 1959 Guggenheim Fellowship for Fiction
- 1960 Governor General's Award for Fiction (for The Luck of Ginger Coffey)
- 1975 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction (for The Great Victorian Collection)
- 1975 Governor General's Award for Fiction (for The Great Victorian Collection)
- 1976 Nominee, Booker Prize (for The Doctor's Wife)
- 1987 Nominee, Booker Prize (for The Colour of Blood)
- 1987 The Sunday Express Book of the Year (for The Colour of Blood)
- 1990 Nominee, Booker Prize (for Lies of Silence)
- 1994 Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Los Angeles Times for his novels
See also
- List of Northern Irish writers
