John McGahern

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John McGahern (November 12, 1934 – March 30, 2006) was an Irish writer (in English).

Contents

[edit] Life

Born in Dublin, McGahern spent his childhood in the parish of Aughawillan near Ballinamore, County Leitrim [1] until his mother, who was the local primary school teacher, died. He was educated by the Presentation Brothers.The family then moved to Cootehall, County Roscommon to live with their father who was a Garda sergeant in the village. After graduating from St. Patrick's College of Education (Drumcondra), he began his career as a schoolteacher at Scoil Eoin Báiste (Belgrove) primary school in Clontarf where, for a period, he taught the eminent academic Declan Kiberd before turning to writing full-time.

McGahern's novel The Dark was banned in Ireland for its alleged pornographic content and implied clerical sexual abuse. In the controversy over this he was forced to resign his teaching post. He subsequently moved to England where he worked in a variety of jobs before returning to Ireland to live and work on a small farm in Fenagh in County Leitrim, located halfway between Ballinamore and Mohill.

He died from cancer in the Mater Hospital in Dublin on March 30, 2006, aged 71. He is buried in St Patrick's Church Aughawillan alongside his mother.

[edit] Works

His best known book is Amongst Women, the story of Michael Moran, an IRA veteran of the Irish War of Independence and the Irish Civil War, who now dominates his family in the unforgiving farmlands of Monaghan. The book is remarkable for its detailed and understanding portrayal of a hardened, and unapologetically idealistic protagonist. An ex-IRA commander, Moran detests the 'small-minded gangsters' who now run the country for which he fought. Though Moran's presence surely dominates the novel, the positive attributes of his stern moralism (Moran doesn't touch alcohol, for one) and sense of self-worth are passed on to his children, who become successful adults (both emotionally and financially) in both Dublin and London. His final novel That They May Face the Rising Sun (published in the United States as By the Lake) is an elegiac portrait of an Irish village. Lyrically written, it explores the meaning in prosaic lives. McGahern is also considered a master of the Irish tradition of the short story.

McGahern was a member of the Irish Arts honorary organization Aosdána and won many other awards (including the Irish-American Foundation Award, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres, and the Prix Etranger Ecureuil). He taught at universities in the United States, Canada, England, and Ireland. In 1991, he received an honorary doctorate of Trinity College, Dublin. His work has influenced a younger generation of writers, such as Colm Tóibín. Some of his works have been translated into Japanese and other languages.

McGahern is generally thought to have exhausted the tradition of rural Irish modernism, although many younger writers continue to copy his detached and knowing style.

[edit] Archives


[edit] Bibliography

Novels

  • The Barracks (1963) AE Memorial Award, McCauley Fellowship.
  • The Dark (1965)
  • The Leavetaking (1975)
  • The Pornographer (1980)
  • Amongst Women (1990), Irish Times/Aer Lingus Literary Award (1991), GPA Award (1992), nominated for the Booker Prize (1990).
  • That They May Face the Rising Sun (2001), nominated for the IMPAC Award. Published in the USA under the title By the Lake (2002)

Non-Fiction

  • Memoir (2005). Published in the U.S.A. in 2006 under the title All Will Be Well.

Short Story Collections

  • Nightlines (1970)
  • Getting Through (1978)
  • High Ground (1985)
  • The Collected Stories (1992), includes the three previous volumes of short stories (some of the stories appear in a slightly different form) and two additional stories - 'The Creamery Manager' and 'The Country Funeral'. The former first appeared in Krina (1989).
  • Creatures of the Earth: New and Selected Stories (2006) contains several stories collected in The Collected Stories, here revised by McGahern for the last time. Again two new stories, 'Creatures of the Earth' and 'Love of the World', are included.

Drama

  • Sinclair (1971) (radio)
  • Swallows (1975) (television)
  • The Rockingham Shoot (1987) (television)
  • The Power of Darkness (1991) (theatre)

Films

Amongst Women was filmed as a television mini-series in 1998, directed by Tom Cairns, and starring Tony Doyle as Moran.

One of McGahern's best-known short stories, Korea, was made into a feature film of the same name directed by Cathal Black and produced by Darryl Collins in 1995. In 1996 Korea won the Asta Nielsen Best Film Award at the Copenhagen Film Festival and was runner-up for the Audience Prize at the Seattle Film Festival.

[edit] External Links