Edna O'Brien facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edna O'Brien
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O'Brien in 2016
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| Born | 15 December 1930 Tuamgraney, County Clare, Irish Free State |
| Died | 27 July 2024 (aged 93) London, United Kingdom |
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| Language | English (Hiberno-English) |
| Years active | 1960–2024 |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | The Yorkshire Post Book Award (Book of the Year) 1970 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction 1990 Premio Grinzane Cavour 1991 Writers' Guild Award 1993 European Prize for Literature 1995 Irish PEN Award 2001 Ulysses Medal 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award in Irish Literature 2009 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award 2011 Saoi of Aosdána 2015 David Cohen Prize 2019 Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres 2021 |
Josephine Edna O'Brien (15 December 1930 – 27 July 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet, and short-story writer. She was a very important writer whose stories often explored the feelings and challenges of women in society.
Her first novel, The Country Girls (1960), was groundbreaking. It talked about social issues in Ireland during a time when such topics were often kept quiet. Many people, including famous writers like Philip Roth and John Banville, considered her one of the greatest writers of her time. She was even mentioned as a possible candidate for the Nobel Prize in literature.
Edna O'Brien's Life and Work
Early Life and Education
Edna O'Brien was born in 1930 in Tuamgraney, County Clare, Ireland. Her parents were Michael O'Brien and Lena Cleary. She grew up in a large house called "Drewsborough." Her family had a history of land ownership, but her father faced financial difficulties. Her mother was a strong woman who had worked in America before returning to Ireland.
Edna was the youngest of her siblings and grew up in a very religious household. From 1941 to 1946, she attended a boarding school run by the Sisters of Mercy in Loughrea, County Galway. She found this time to be very strict and felt it limited her freedom. She later said she was glad to see the strict religious rules change over time.
In 1950, after studying at night and working in a pharmacy during the day, Edna became a licensed pharmacist in Dublin. During this time, she read many classic authors like Tolstoy and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Starting Her Writing Career
While in Dublin, Edna discovered the works of James Joyce. Learning that his book A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man was based on his own life inspired her. She realized that her own experiences, even the difficult ones, could be a source for stories. She once said, "Unhappy houses are a very good incubation for stories."
Later, in London, she started working for a publisher called Hutchinson. They were so impressed with her ideas that they asked her to write a novel. Her first book, The Country Girls, was published in 1960. This book was the first in a series, followed by The Lonely Girl (1962) and Girls in Their Married Bliss (1964). These books were very popular, but they were actually banned in Ireland for a while because of their honest portrayal of women's lives.
Her novel A Pagan Place (1970) was inspired by her strict childhood. Her parents were not supportive of her writing career. Her mother even tried to burn a book by another Irish writer, Seán O'Casey, that Edna owned.
Later Works and Recognition
Edna O'Brien wrote many other important works throughout her career. In 1979, she was part of the first episode of the BBC show Question Time. She also wrote a play called Virginia in 1980, which was about the famous writer Virginia Woolf. This play was performed in Canada, London, and New York.
She wrote biographies of famous literary figures like James Joyce (published in 1999) and the poet Lord Byron (Byron in Love, 2009). Her novel House of Splendid Isolation (1994) marked a new and important period in her writing.
In 2021, it was announced that Edna O'Brien would donate her writings and papers from 2000 to 2021 to the National Library of Ireland. Her earlier papers are kept at Emory University in the United States.
Edna O'Brien passed away on 27 July 2024.
Important Awards and Honours
Edna O'Brien received many awards and honours for her contributions to literature:
- In 1970, she won The Yorkshire Post Book Award for A Pagan Place.
- In 1990, she received the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Lantern Slides.
- In 2001, she was given the Irish PEN Award.
- In 2006, she was made an adjunct professor of English Literature at University College, Dublin.
- In 2009, she received the Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award at the Irish Book Awards.
- Her short story collection Saints and Sinners won the 2011 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, which is a very important prize for short stories.
- In 2018, she was appointed an honorary Dame of the Order of the British Empire for her work in literature.
- In 2019, she received the David Cohen Prize for Literature. This award is given every two years to a living writer for their lifetime achievements and is sometimes called the "UK and Ireland Nobel in literature."
- In March 2021, France gave her its highest honour for the arts, making her a Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.
Her Legacy
Many people believe that Edna O'Brien changed Irish writing forever. The Scottish novelist Andrew O'Hagan said that she "changed the nature of Irish fiction" by bringing women's experiences and inner thoughts to the forefront. Irish novelist Colum McCann described her as "the advance scout for the Irish imagination" for over fifty years. This means she was a pioneer, exploring new ideas and ways of writing that influenced many others.
Personal Life
In 1954, Edna O'Brien married the Irish writer Ernest Gébler. They moved to London and had two sons, one of whom is the writer Carlo. Their marriage ended in 1964.
Other Awards and Honours
- 1970: The Yorkshire Post Book Award (Book of the Year), for A Pagan Place
- 1990: Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, for Lantern Slides
- 1991: Premio Grinzane Cavour (Italy), for Girl with Green Eyes
- 1993: Writers' Guild Award (Best Fiction), for Time and Tide
- 1995: European Prize for Literature (European Association for the Arts), for House of Splendid Isolation
- 2000: Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement
- 2001: Irish PEN Award
- 2006: Ulysses Medal (University College Dublin)
- 2009: Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2010: Shortlisted for Irish Book of the Decade (Irish Book Awards), for In the Forest
- 2012: Irish Book Awards (Irish Non-Fiction Book), for Country Girl
- 2015: Saoi
- 2018: PEN/Nabokov Award
- 2019: David Cohen Prize
- 2021: Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France)
List of Works
Novels
- 1960: The Country Girls (ISBN: 0-14-001851-4)
- 1962: The Lonely Girl later published as Girl with Green Eyes (ISBN: 0-14-002108-6)
- 1964: Girls in Their Married Bliss (ISBN: 0-14-002649-5)
- 1965: August Is a Wicked Month (ISBN: 0-14-002720-3)
- 1966: Casualties of Peace (ISBN: 0-14-002875-7)
- 1970: A Pagan Place (ISBN: 0-297-00027-6)
- 1972: Night (ISBN: 0-297-99541-3)
- 1977: Johnny I Hardly Knew You (ISBN: 0 -297-77284-8); in US, "I Hardly Knew You" (ISBN: 0-140-04772-7)
- 1987: The Country Girls Trilogy with new epilogue (ISBN: 0-14-010984-6)
- 1988: The High Road (ISBN: 0-297-79493-0)
- 1992: Time and Tide (ISBN: 0-670-84552-3)
- 1994: House of Splendid Isolation (ISBN: 0-297-81460-5)
- 1996: Down by the River (ISBN: 0-297-81806-6)
- 1999: Wild Decembers (ISBN: 0-297-64576-5)
- 2002: In the Forest (ISBN: 0-297-60732-4)
- 2006: The Light of Evening (ISBN: 0-618-71867-2)
- 2015: The Little Red Chairs (ISBN: 0-316-37823-2)
- 2019: Girl (ISBN: 0-374-16255-7)
Short story collections
- 1968: The Love Object and Other Stories (ISBN: 0-14-003104-9)
- 1974: A Scandalous Woman and Other Stories (ISBN: 0-297-76735-6)
- 1978: Mrs Reinhardt and Other Stories (ISBN: 0-297-77476-X)
- 1982: Returning (ISBN: 0-297-78052-2)
- 1985: A Fanatic Heart (ISBN: 0-297-78607-5)
- 1990: Lantern Slides (ISBN: 0-297-84019-3)
- 2011: Saints and Sinners (ISBN: 0316122726)
- 2013: The Love Object: Selected Stories, a fifty-year retrospective, (ISBN: 978-0-316-37826-0)
Drama
- 1973 "A Pagan Place" (ISBN: 0-571-10316-2)
- 1975: Zee and Co (ISBN: 978-0140033250)
- 1980: Virginia (ISBN: 0-15-693560-0)
- 2005: Family Butchers
- 2005: Triptych and Iphigenia (ISBN: 978-0802141545)
- 2009: Haunted
- 2011; "The Country Girls" (ISBN: 978-0-571-29669-9)
- 2014 "Joyce's Women" (ISBN: 0571377858)
Screenplays
- 1971: "Zee & Co." (ISBN: 0-297-00336-4)
Nonfiction books
- 1976: Mother Ireland, (ISBN: 0-297-77110-8)
- 1977: Arabian Days (ISBN: 978-0704321502)
- 1979: Some Irish Loving, as editor: anthology (ISBN: 0-297-77581-2)
- 1981 "James & Nora" (ISBN: 978-1-4746-1682-9); reprinted in 2020
- 1986: Vanishing Ireland (with photographs by Richard Fitzgerald), (ISBN: 978-0224024242)
- 1999: James Joyce, biography (ISBN: 0-297-84243-9)
- 2009: Byron in Love, biography (ISBN: 978-0-393-07011-8)
- 2012: Country Girl, memoir (ISBN: 978-0316122702)
Children's books
- 1981: The Dazzle (ISBN: 9780340264911)
- 1982: A Christmas Treat (ISBN: 978-0340279717)
- 1983: "The Rescue" (ISBN: 0-340-33896-2)
- 2017: Tales for the Telling, (ISBN: 978-1786750327)
Poetry collections
- 1989: On the Bone (ISBN: 0-906887-38-0)
