It has been announced that writer and broadcaster Joseph O'Connor is to receive the Irish PEN Award 2012 for outstanding contribution to Irish Literature.
O'Connor will receive the award at a ceremony in the Royal St George Yacht Club, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin on February 10 2012.
Founded in 1921, PEN – which stands for poets, playwrights, editors, essayists and novelists – is an international association of writers "which promotes literature and defends freedom of expression".
Previous winners and honorary members of Irish PEN include: John B Keane, Brian Friel, Edna O'Brien, William Trevor, John McGahern, Neil Jordan, Seamus Heaney, Jennifer Johnston, Maeve Binchy, Thomas Kilroy, Roddy Doyle, Brendan Kennelly and Colm Tóibín.
