Die irische Schriftstellerin Edna O’Brien ist gestorben

Die am 15. Dezember 1930 in Tuamgraney im County Clare geborene irische Schriftstellerin und Drehbuchautorin Edna O’Brien (Bild) ist am 27. Juli 2024 in London gestorben. O’Briens Bücher, die sie erst in England schrieb, wurden von den jungen Frauen in England begeistert aufgenommen. In Irland stiessen sie aber auf vehemente Kritik der überwiegend männlichen Obrigkeit. Der Erzbischof und Minister der Regierung verdammten die Bücher, die sogar öffentlich verbrannt wurden. (*) Erst später erlangte O'Briens Leistung in ihrem Heimatland Anerkennung. Irlands Präsident Michael D. Higgins bezeichnete sie in einem Statement als «eine der aussergewöhnlichsten Schriftstellerinnen der Neuzeit» und würdigte sie als «grossartige» Autorin mit dem «moralischen Mut, die irische Gesellschaft mit lange ignorierten Realitäten zu konfrontieren». Sie sei eine «furchtlose Wahrheitssprecherin» gewesen. (**)

Bild: Edna O’Brien, 2016 – Foto: Andrew Lih (Ausschnitt) – Lizenz:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en – Datei:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hayfestival-2016-Edna-O’Brien-2.jpg

Acclaimed Irish writer Edna O’Brien dies aged 93

She was a leading light for a generation of Irish writers, and her loss will have a profound impact on the Irish literary scene.

President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to her, saying that her work «has been sought as model all around the world».

He described Ms O’Brien as «a fearless teller of truths» and «a superb writer possessed of the moral courage to confront Irish society with realities long ignored and suppressed».

«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,» he said.

Evelyn O’Rourke

https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0728/1462283-edna-obrien/

President Michael D Higgins leads tributes to ‘fearless teller of truths’ who died peacefully on Saturday after long illness

Her debut trilogy of novels – The Country Girls (1960), The Lonely Girl (later renamed Girl with the Green Eyes) (1962) and Girls in Their Married Bliss (1963) – were famously banned by the Irish censorship board.

However, she was also the recipient of many awards.

These included the Pen Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature in 2018 and the David Cohen prize for literature in 2019.

Ms O’Brien was conferred with honorary doctorates by Galway University, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Limerick. In 2006 University College Dublin awarded her the Ulysses Medal, the highest prize the university can bestow.

In September 2015 she was elected as a Saoi of Aosdána in a ceremony presided over by President Michael D Higgins.

On Sunday the president described Edna O’Brien as one of the outstanding writers of modern times. He said her work had been sought as model all around the world.

Martin Wall

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2024/07/28/irish-author-edna-obrien-has-died-aged-93/

After early novels that won international acclaim but were banned at home, the Irish author had a prolific career lasting more than half a century

In a series of novels beginning with The Country Girls that were at first banned in Ireland but feted abroad, O’Brien gave voice to women struggling with the oppressive and hypocritical expectations of rural life. Her focus widened in later works such as House of Splendid Isolation and The Little Red Chairs, but always maintained the keen intelligence and daring that made Philip Roth once hail her as «the most gifted woman now writing fiction in English».

Richard Lea

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/jul/28/irish-author-edna-obrien-dies

Edna O’Brien, the controversial Irish novelist

She threw glittering parties and rubbed shoulders with stars like Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor and Robert Mitchum.

But in her later life, she shrugged off the Mata Hari label as «more garbage». She insisted it was her inner life that mattered most.

Edna O’Brien was born in December 1930 at Tuamgraney, County Clare. It was a place she later described as «fervid» and «enclosed».

She was the youngest of four children and she grew up in rural Ireland in a strictly religious, farming family.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpwweg4zgv2o

Edna O’Brien, Writer Who Gave Voice to Women’s Passions, Dies at 93

Edna O’Brien, the prolific Irish author whose evocative and explicit stories of loves lost earned her a literary reputation that matched the darkly complex lives of her tragic heroines, died on Saturday.

Ms. O’Brien wrote dozens of novels and short-story collections over almost 60 years, starting in 1960 with «The Country Girls,» a book that dealt with the emotional conflicts of two Irish girls who rebel against their Roman Catholic upbringing.

Her books often depicted willful but insecure women who loved men who were crass, unfaithful or already married.

Anthony DePalma

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/28/obituaries/edna-o-brien-dead.html

Literarische Femme fatale – Schriftstellerin Edna O’Brien mit 93 Jahren gestorben

Edna O’Brien zählte zu den bekanntesten Vertreterinnen der irischen Literatur. Berühmt wurde sie mit Frauenromanen, die damals den Geist der jungen feministischen Bewegung aufnahmen.

Marion Löhndorf

https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/nachruf-edna-obrien-lyrismus-und-haerte-ld.1314489

Videos:

Edna O’Brien interview – ‚You have to be lonely to be a writer‘ – video, 2012

https://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2012/dec/07/edna-obrien-autobiography-country-girl-interview-video

Edna O’Brien reads an extract from her autobiography Country Girl – video, 2012

https://www.theguardian.com/books/video/2012/dec/07/edna-obrien-country-girl-reading-video

Mehr:

https://www.nndb.com/people/023/000102714/

https://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/edna.htm

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0639530/

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/in-praise-of-edna-o-brien-by-eimear-mcbride-1.2128938