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Edna O'Brien

エドナ・オブライエン

Edna O'Brien

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1930-12-15 （Tuamgraney, County Clare, Ireland）
Died
2024-07-27 （London, England） age 93
Nationality
Irish
Languages
English
Religion
Roman Catholic
Residence History
Tuamgraney, County Clare (birth) → Dublin (early adulthood) → London (long-term residence) → Chelsea, London (rented flat, 2020)

Career

Occupations
novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet, short-story writer
Active Years
1960-2019
Memberships
Aosdána
Influenced By
James Joyce, Leo Tolstoy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, T. S. Eliot (via introductions and criticism)
Influenced
Colum McCann, Carlo Gébler
Nominations
Prix Médicis (nominated), Prix Femina étranger (nominated)

Education

St. Raphael's College (boarding school)
Period: 1941–1946
Year of Graduation: 1946
Country: Ireland
Boarding education run by Sisters of Mercy. Childhood experience influenced later writing.
Pharmaceutical college (Dublin, night classes)
Pharmacy
Degree: Pharmacist licence
Period: 1940年代–1950
Year of Graduation: 1950
Country: Ireland
Worked in a pharmacy by day while studying at night; received pharmacist licence.

Awards

Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction
1990
Work: Lantern Slides
Organization: Los Angeles Times
Result: 受賞
Irish PEN Award
2001
Organization: Irish PEN
Result: 受賞（功労賞）
Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award
2011
Work: Saints and Sinners
Organization: Frank O'Connor Award (organisers)
Result: 受賞
Saoi (Aosdána)
2015
Organization: Aosdána
Result: 叙位（Torc 授与）
David Cohen Prize
2019
Work: lifetime achievement
Organization: David Cohen Prize (organisers)
Result: 受賞（生涯業績）
Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Commandeur)
2021
Organization: French government (Ministry of Culture)
Result: 叙勲
PEN/Nabokov Award
2018
Organization: PEN America
Result: 受賞（生涯業績）
Yorkshire Post Book Award (Book of the Year)
1970
Work: A Pagan Place
Organization: The Yorkshire Post
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Country Girls

1960 Novel (first of a trilogy)

Follows the inner lives of young women from rural Ireland and their conflicts with society; controversial on publication for its frank treatment of sexuality and women's experiences.

women's inner lifesex and repressionIrish society
Translations
  • French translation (Éditions Julliard, 1960)

Girl

2019 Novel

A fictional account inspired by the 2014 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping in Nigeria; explores trauma, victimhood and international responses. Based on field research in Nigeria.

abduction and traumafemale resilience and survivalinternational justice
Translations
  • Published in French and German translations

Saints and Sinners

2011 Short story collection

A collection of short stories spanning many years, focusing on varied portraits of women, their inner lives and social constraints.

short fictionwomen's experiencesmorality and contradiction

Country Girl

2012 Memoir

A memoir recounting her upbringing, literary life, family relationships and tensions with Irish society.

memoirfamilyformation of the writer

Bibliography

  • The Country Girls (1960)
  • The Lonely Girl / Girl with Green Eyes (1962)
  • Girls in Their Married Bliss (1964)
  • A Pagan Place (1970)
  • Lantern Slides (1990)
  • Saints and Sinners (2011)
  • Country Girl (memoir, 2012)
  • Girl (2019)

Adaptations

  • Stage productions (e.g. Virginia)

Translations of Works

  • Many works translated into French

Style & Themes

Literary Style
intimate, direct prose focused on inner emotional lifepsychologically probing narrative style
Recurring Motifs
women's inner lives and sexual awakeningpressure of family and homelandloneliness and liberation

Health

  • Long illness (details not publicly specified)
    晩年〜2024年（死去まで）
    Suffered a long illness in later years which limited public activity; died in London in 2024.

Legacy

Opened a new space for women's voices in Irish fiction by addressing sex and inner life candidly; achieved international recognition with honours such as Saoi of Aosdána and multiple lifetime achievement awards.

Academic Societies

  • Aosdána

Archives

  • Emory University (Edna O'Brien papers, circa 1939–2000)
  • University College Dublin (more recent papers)
  • National Library of Ireland (papers covering 2000–2021)

In Popular Culture

  • Documentary film 'Blue Road - The Edna O'Brien Story' (premiered 2024, cinema release Jan 2025; Sky Arts broadcast June 2025)

Quotes

  • Unhappy houses are a very good incubation for stories.
    Source: Interview (The Observer / The Guardian) (2011)
  • Through her deeply insightful work, rich in humanity, Edna O'Brien provided a true voice to the experiences of women in Ireland.
    Source: Michael D. Higgins (President of Ireland) statement (2024)

Trivia

  • 'The Country Girls' provoked controversy on publication in Ireland and was placed on censorship lists (there are legends of book burnings).
  • Her son Carlo Gébler is also a writer.
  • She enjoyed particular popularity in France; many works were translated into French.