Book News
Writer John McGahern dies, aged 71
Thursday 30 March 2006
One of Ireland's most celebrated authors, his autobiography, 'Memoir', was published last year and he was the recipient of the Literature Prize at the South Bank Awards in London in January.
His other works included 'That They May Face the Rising Sun', 'Amongst Women' and 'The Barracks'.
Born in Dublin in 1934 and raised in Leitrim and Roscommon, John McGahern first came to prominence in the 1960s with the novel 'The Dark', which was banned.
After the publication of the book the author was dismissed from his job as a teacher in Clontarf in Dublin.
'Amongst Women' was nominated for the Booker Prize in 1990, and was filmed as a television miniseries in 1998.
For the past three decades he had lived with his second wife, Madeline Green, in Co Leitrim.
Speaking today following his death, President Mary McAleese said: "With the passing of John McGahern, Ireland has lost an outstanding literary talent."
Paying tribute to John McGahern, An Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said: "John was one of Ireland's finest writers ever. His beautiful use of language in telling and retelling the stories of his time and place, are the enduring testimony of his life and his talent."
Olive Braiden, Chair of the Arts Council, of which John McGahern was a member, said: "John was without question, one of Ireland's most gifted and outstanding storytellers. His brilliant, touching and often witty prose never failed to move readers."
"He was wise and kind, ever sensitive to the needs of artists and dogged in his determination at the Council table to improve the situation for artists in the country. We are devastated," she continued.
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