Edna O’Brien

Irish author and playwright (1930-2024)

Television: Bob Geldof busts his baggage allowance in a poetry-political broadcast

Television: Bob Geldof busts his baggage allowance in a poetry-political broadcast

Review: ‘A Fanatic Heart’, ‘Children of the Revolution’ and ‘The Night Manager’

By Bernice HarrisonFri Apr 01 2016 - 14:00

Censorship board bans book for the first time since 1998

Censorship board bans book for the first time since 1998

‘The Raped Little Runaway’ was deemed ‘indecent or obscene’ by regulatory body

By Michael BarrySat Mar 12 2016 - 14:47

From Bram to Brooklyn: 10 great films adapted from Irish literature

From Bram to Brooklyn: 10 great films adapted from Irish literature

Lenny Abrahamson’s Room and John Crowley’s Brooklyn vie for the best picture Oscar this weekend. They are part of a grand tradition

By Donald ClarkeWed Feb 24 2016 - 06:00

Radio: It’s a struggle to move on when all roads lead to Paris

Radio: It’s a struggle to move on when all roads lead to Paris

Review: ‘Sunday with Miriam’, ‘Marian Finucane’, ‘The Right Hook’, ‘Off the Ball’, ‘Tom Dunne’, ‘Moth’

By Catherine ConroyFri Nov 20 2015 - 14:00

Edna O’Brien: ‘I was lonely, cut off from the dance of life’

Edna O’Brien: ‘I was lonely, cut off from the dance of life’

The controversial author’s latest novel sees a woman fall for an outsider with a dark past

By Patrick FreyneSat Nov 07 2015 - 04:30

Colm Tóibín: enjoying life on the Brooklyn road

Colm Tóibín: enjoying life on the Brooklyn road

As the film of ‘Brooklyn’ gets good reviews, Tóibín’s status at home and abroad rises yet another notch

By Donald ClarkeFri Oct 30 2015 - 11:30

The Projectionist: The Story of Ernest Gébler, by Carlo Gébler: a great read

The Projectionist: The Story of Ernest Gébler, by Carlo Gébler: a great read

This cool, forensic examination of a writer’s psychology by his son, is a great read

By Anne HavertySat Oct 17 2015 - 01:22

‘I take an Edna O’Brien into my life carelessly. And suffer ten years’

‘I take an Edna O’Brien into my life carelessly. And suffer ten years’

An extract from The Projectionist by Carlo Gébler, his biography and memoir of his father Ernest, which looks in detail at his troubled marriage to Edna O’Brien

By Carlo GeblerMon Oct 12 2015 - 10:36

Imogen Stuart, Edna O’Brien and William Trevor elected Saoithe

Imogen Stuart, Edna O’Brien and William Trevor elected Saoithe

Aosdána honour given by President Higgins for singular, sustained distinction in arts

By Pamela DuncanWed Sept 16 2015 - 01:00

Blowin’ our mind: what Van Morrison means to us

Blowin’ our mind: what Van Morrison means to us

‘A punk before punk was a twinkle in its eye-linered eye,’ says poet Paul Muldoon. How do other fans and friends sum him up?

Sat Aug 29 2015 - 06:00

The six authors in the mix for Frank O’Connor award

The six authors in the mix for Frank O’Connor award

On Wednesday a winner will be announced for the most lucrative short-story prize in the world

By Arminta WallaceTue Jul 07 2015 - 14:08

Edna O’Brien says she is ‘increasingly astonished’ by Yeats

Edna O’Brien says she is ‘increasingly astonished’ by Yeats

Writer the guest of honour at Nobel dinner, at start of Yeats festival in Sligo to mark 150 years since his birth

By Marese McDonaghFri Jun 12 2015 - 01:04

Select: the literary festivals to fill your belly and your brain

Select: the literary festivals to fill your belly and your brain

There’s a literary feast awaiting the country in the coming week, with three festivals taking place. We’ve rounded up some places to fill your belly while you fill your brain

By Rachel CollinsThu Jun 04 2015 - 12:00

US arm was a relatively small part of Fianna Fáil fund-raising operation

US arm was a relatively small part of Fianna Fáil fund-raising operation

American funding was small beer compared to activities in Ireland

By Harry McGeeMon Apr 20 2015 - 01:00

Traditional elegance in Dalkey for €2.5m

Traditional elegance in Dalkey for €2.5m

Four-bedroom detached house with sea views is close to the beach, village and Dart

By Gemma TiptonWed Mar 11 2015 - 14:00

In praise of Edna O’Brien, by Eimear McBride

In praise of Edna O’Brien, by Eimear McBride

Celebrating Irish women writers: ‘I fell in love with the deep, beautiful humanity of her prose and the incautious honesty of her portrayal of the Irish female experience’

By Eimear McBrideSat Mar 07 2015 - 09:15

In praise of Edna O’Brien, by Declan Meade

In praise of Edna O’Brien, by Declan Meade

Irish Women Writers: ‘Her output is astonishing. I love the honesty and the bravery she brings to her work and I love the beautiful energy of her sentences’

By Declan MeadeMon Feb 23 2015 - 17:00

Renaissance man of politics and media

Renaissance man of politics and media

John Freeman: February 19th, 1915 - December 20th, 2014

Sat Jan 03 2015 - 10:07

From the Archives: December 13th, 1980

From the Archives: December 13th, 1980

Journalist Maev Kennedy describes the impact of Edna O’Brien on her life and on the public in this excerpt from an article, one of a series on the ‘Spell of the Sixties’ in the 1980s

Sat Dec 13 2014 - 11:00

All I want for Christmas: Danielle McLaughlin

All I want for Christmas: Danielle McLaughlin

Author Danielle McLaughlin talks about what she loves and hates about the festive season

By Emma SomersThu Nov 20 2014 - 01:00

The L factor: a literary ambassador for Ireland

The L factor: a literary ambassador for Ireland

Thirty-four authors have made the longlist for the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction

By Sarah GilmartinWed Nov 05 2014 - 01:00

Baiting the censor: 10 books they tried to suppress

Hilary Mantel’s short story The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher caused outrage with its recent publication in the Guardian, but it’s not the first and won’t be last piece of fiction to raise hackles

By Sarah GilmartinMon Sept 29 2014 - 01:00

New Fiction: Loneliness and the Irish short story

New Fiction: Loneliness and the Irish short story

Martin Malone’s latest collection tackles difficult subjects, with mixed results

By Sarah GilmartinSat Sept 13 2014 - 01:00

Evelyn O’Rourke: ‘Nothing is as absorbing as a good book. Time stands still’

Evelyn O’Rourke: ‘Nothing is as absorbing as a good book. Time stands still’

‘It is weird that even when your research topic is yourself, it’s amazing how many facts about yourself that you have to double-check’

By Martin DoyleTue Sept 09 2014 - 01:00

Colin Barrett wins Rooney Prize for ‘Young Skins’ short story collection

Colin Barrett wins Rooney Prize for ‘Young Skins’ short story collection

‘A shimmering debut’ from a ‘dazzling writer’

By Patsy McGarryMon Sept 01 2014 - 20:50

Caitlin Moran’s rebel yell: How to Build a Girl

Caitlin Moran’s rebel yell: How to Build a Girl

Review: The journalist’s semi-autobiographical novel brilliantly captures the complexities of teenage life

By Sinéad GleesonSat Aug 16 2014 - 01:00

Kill your darlings: the importance of editing

Kill your darlings: the importance of editing

No editor has time to look at a novel twice. Leading editors offer advice to help writers make the most of their one shot

By Sinéad GleesonMon Jul 28 2014 - 01:00

Poetic, poignant and funny: The Closet of Savage Mementos

Poetic, poignant and funny: The Closet of Savage Mementos

Review: Nuala Ní Chonchúir’s second novel doesn’t flinch when tackling the dark truths of human behaviour

By Sarah GilmartinSat Jul 26 2014 - 01:17

Word for Word: the State should buy O’Brien’s old home

Word for Word: the State should buy O’Brien’s old home

Ireland is happy to enjoy the cultural kudos – and tourism revenue – its once-shunned literary lions bestow on the country but the State is careless when it comes to preserving their homes

By Cathy DillonSat Jul 12 2014 - 01:00

Mayo writer Colin Barrett wins Frank O’Connor award with debut collection

Mayo writer Colin Barrett wins Frank O’Connor award with debut collection

Barrett is just second Irish winner of the €25,000 prize, after Edna O’Brien

By Eileen BattersbyFri Jul 11 2014 - 11:20

Around the block: Edna O’Brien’s childhood home fails to make auction guide price

Around the block: Edna O’Brien’s childhood home fails to make auction guide price

Thu Jul 03 2014 - 01:00

Ebooks: Big summer reads add their weight to the digital cause

Ebooks: Big summer reads add their weight to the digital cause

Taking your ereader to the beach will free you from sandy pages, smudges, sore wrists and one-arm sunburn

By Sarah GilmartinSat Jun 14 2014 - 01:00

‘It’s the last thing I wanted to write about: God, sex, death, incest, guilt’

‘It’s the last thing I wanted to write about: God, sex, death, incest, guilt’

Eimear McBride’s debut novel, A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing, took 10 years to get published, in which time she felt she had failed. That it has won the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year award is more than simple vindication

By Eileen BattersbyTue Jun 03 2014 - 01:00

Irish personalities reveal moments that changed their lives in a new book

About 100 people attended the launch of ‘Life Is For Living’ book

By Rachel FlahertyWed May 21 2014 - 10:23

Mad men and women in fiction

Mad men and women in fiction

From Jane Eyre’s madwoman in the attic to Captain Ahab in Moby Dick and Francie in The Butcher Boy, madness is a recurring and compelling theme in literature

By Sarah GilmartinFri May 02 2014 - 01:27

The Irish in London in fact and in fiction

The Irish in London in fact and in fiction

As President Higgins makes the first Irish State visit to Britain, a new book explores how Irish writers have treated the emigrant experience

By Tony MurrayMon Apr 07 2014 - 01:00

Stranger than fiction: when crime captures the imagination

Nicola White’s new novel ‘In the Rosary Garden’ was inspired by the Kerry Babies tribunal and the Ann Lovett case. We recommend some other real-life fiction from Ireland and abroad

By Sarah GilmartinFri Apr 04 2014 - 01:00

What books define Ireland for you?

What books define Ireland for you?

A new book lists 31 definitive texts. Are the authors right? And what should be the 32nd?

By Martin DoyleWed Mar 26 2014 - 15:21

Festival Fit: Majestic scenery, cute hoors, Gaelic football, dance and song . . .

Festival Fit: Majestic scenery, cute hoors, Gaelic football, dance and song . . .

Mark Graham discovers all life on display in West Kerry

By Mark GrahamFri Feb 21 2014 - 00:00

Shane MacGowan's Fairytale of Weatherfield: an Irish rover in the Rovers Return

Shane MacGowan's Fairytale of Weatherfield: an Irish rover in the Rovers Return

Shane MacGowan and his much-loved Christmas song, Fairytale of New York, star in a special episode of Coronation Street. His partner writes about the visit and sharing pork scratchings with Peter Barlow

By Victoria Mary ClarkeWed Dec 18 2013 - 01:00

Edna O’Brien: informed by Chekhov, inspired by vulnerability

Edna O’Brien: informed by Chekhov, inspired by vulnerability

This masterful writer’s rural-Ireland background invariably emerges from her sophisticated portraits of female sensibility

By John BanvilleSat Nov 23 2013 - 01:00

Heaney remembered at Southbank celebration

Heaney remembered at Southbank celebration

Poet’s memory was celebrated in music, poetry and laughter in London last night.

By Mark HennessyThu Nov 21 2013 - 12:10

Edna O’Brien: ‘I would die now if tomorrow morning I could not write’

Edna O’Brien: ‘I would die now if tomorrow morning I could not write’

In advance of publication of her new book The Love Object, a 500-page retrospective of stories, Edna O’Brien looks back on life, loves, and her passion for writing

By Susanna RustinWed Oct 02 2013 - 13:33

Funeral Mass celebrates ‘the beauty of Seamus Heaney...in his being’

Funeral Mass celebrates ‘the beauty of Seamus Heaney...in his being’

He had many of the qualities of an ‘identikit portrait of the ideal Christian’

By Patsy McGarryTue Sept 03 2013 - 01:00

Radio’s brand new dawn? Not quite

The Great Radio War between Pat Kenny and Sean O’Rourke has begun. At times, the listeners became collateral damage

By Shane HegartyTue Sept 03 2013 - 01:00

A visit that changed us forever

John Fitzgerald Kennedy brought with him an inkling of the good life that was possible and in the euphoria raised the country’s self-esteem, writes Kate Holmquist

By Kate HolmquistWed Jun 19 2013 - 00:00

That’s Men: White bear experiments may hold the key to mastering addictions

By Pádraig O'MoráinTue Jun 18 2013 - 01:00

Great winner, shame about the shortlist

Great winner, shame about the shortlist

Kevin Barry’s wonderful novel is a worthy winner of the Impac; but it was chosen from a shortlist that did not reflect the quality of the wider literary field

By Eileen BattersbyFri Jun 07 2013 - 01:00

Trespassers: A Memoir, by Julia O’Faolain

An insightful chronicle describes a daughter’s struggle to emerge from the shadow of her famous father, the writer Séan O’Faolain

By John MontagueSat May 25 2013 - 02:00

Deborah Levy: ‘Did you notice when you said the word feminist an alarm went off?’

Deborah Levy: ‘Did you notice when you said the word feminist an alarm went off?’

Deborah Levy’s recent novel was declined for being ‘too literary’. A Booker-nomination followed

By Sinéad GleesonTue Mar 19 2013 - 06:00

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