Irish novelist Edna O’Brien dies aged 93

By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA

Acclaimed Irish novelist Edna O’Brien has died aged 93 after a long illness.

The author died peacefully on Saturday, according to a joint statement from her agent and publishing house.

“Our thoughts are with her family and friends, in particular her sons Marcus and Carlo,” it said.

Ms O’Brien – a novelist, short story writer, memoirist, poet and playwright – is best known for her portrayal of women’s lives against repressive expectations in Irish society.

Her first novel, The Country Girls, was published in 1960 and became the part of a trilogy that was banned in Ireland for their references to sex and social issues.

President Michael D Higgins called Ms O’Brien a “fearless” and “superb” writer who “possessed of the moral courage to confront Irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed”.

He said she was “one of the outstanding writers of modern times”.

“Through that deeply insightful work, rich in humanity, Edna O’Brien was one of the first writers to provide a true voice to the experiences of women in Ireland in their different generations and played an important role in transforming the status of women across Irish society.

“While the beauty of her work was immediately recognised abroad, it is important to remember the hostile reaction it provoked among those who wished for the lived experience of women to remain far from the world of Irish literature, with her books shamefully banned upon their early publication.”

 

Ms O’Brien was a member of Aosdana, an Irish association of elite artists, and was presented with the association’s highest honour, the Torc of the Saoi, in 2015.

She was also presented with a Presidential Distinguished Service Award in 2018.

Publishing house Faber described Ms O’Brien as “one of the greatest writers of our age”.

“She revolutionised Irish literature, capturing the lives of women and the complexities of the human condition in prose that was luminous and spare, and which had a profound influence on so many writers who followed her.

“A defiant and courageous spirit, Edna constantly strove to break new artistic ground, to write truthfully, from a place of deep feeling.

“The vitality of her prose was a mirror of her zest for life: she was the very best company, kind, generous, mischievous, brave.

“Edna was a dear friend to us all, and we will miss her dreadfully. It is Faber’s huge privilege to publish her, and her bold and brilliant body of work lives on.”

Her agent Caroline Michel at PFD said: “In Girl with Green Eyes, the immortal centrepiece of the masterful Country Girls trilogy, Edna writes:

‘We all leave one another. We die… If I do leave you, I will have passed on to you something of myself; you will be a different person because of knowing me; it’s inescapable.’

“Edna is inescapable… once read, once met, she is forever rebelliously and joyously in your life.”