Irish novelist Edna O'Brien wins 'Irish Nobel in literature' award
Her work has been banned, burned and banished but Edna O'Brien still sets the literary world alight. As she approaches her 90th year, the bestselling Irish writer has been named the winner of the 2019 David Cohen Prize for Literature.
Unveiled at the Royal Institute of British Architects in London, the prize was awarded to a writer who has broken down social and sexual barriers for women in Ireland and beyond.
Recognised by many as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century, Edna O’Brien is a bestselling novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short story writer and has drawn admiration and celebration from fellow writers worldwide.
Born and raised in County Clare, her first and highly successful novel, The Country Girls, was banned when it was first published in 1960. Since then she has written more than 20 novels, five works of drama and four works of non-fiction including her memoir, Country Girl. Her latest book, Girl, a novel about the Boko Haram kidnappings of Nigerian schoolgirls, was published in September.
The David Cohen Prize for Literature is awarded every two years in recognition of a living writer’s lifetime achievement in literature, and has consequently earned its position in the literary canon as the “UK and Ireland Nobel in literature”.
Previous winners who went on to win the Nobel proper are Harold Pinter, V S Naipaul and Doris Lessing. Previous Irish winners include William Trevor, Derek Mahon and Seamus Heaney.
Mark Lawson, chair of judges, said that, unlike some writers who blaze early and then fade, Edna O’Brien has achieved brilliant consistency. "Her literary skill, courage, and impact is as apparent in a novel published as recently as September as in her first book, which appeared 60 years ago.
"The 2019 prize is timely because O’Brien’s primary subject has been Ireland, a country that continues to be central to our politics and culture."
