Jennifer Johnston (novelist) explained

Birth Date:12 January 1930
Birth Place:Dublin, Ireland
Alma Mater:Trinity College Dublin
Occupation:Novelist

Jennifer Johnston (born 12 January 1930) is an Irish novelist. She has won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.[1]

Biography

She was born in Dublin to Irish actress and director Shelah Richards and Irish playwright Denis Johnston.[2] A cousin of actress and film star Geraldine Fitzgerald, via Fitzgerald's mother, Edith (née Richards), Jennifer Johnston was educated at Trinity College Dublin.[3] For decades, she lived in Derry, and currently lives near Dublin.[4] Other cousins include the actresses Tara Fitzgerald and Susan Fitzgerald.[5] [6]

Johnston was born into the Church of Ireland and many of her novels deal with the fading of the Protestant Anglo-Irish ascendancy in the 20th century. She married a fellow student at Trinity College, Ian Smyth, in 1951.[7] Johnston is a member of Aosdána.[8]

Awards and honours

List of works

Novels
Plays

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Jennifer Johnston - Literature . Literature.britishcouncil.org . 16 July 2016.
  2. Web site: A shaper of sophisticated stories . Irishtimes.com . 9 January 2010 . 16 July 2016.
  3. Web site: Rosie Cowan . Rosie Cowan on Jennifer Johnston . The Guardian . 11 February 2004 . 16 July 2016.
  4. Web site: Martina Devlin interviews Jennifer Johnston . Libranwriter.wordpress.com . 5 November 2014 . 16 July 2016.
  5. Michael Coveney, "Susan FitzGerald obituary", The Guardian, 10 September 2013.
  6. Maureen Paton, "Tara Fitzgerald: Naked ambition" (profile), The Independent, 2 May 2003.
  7. Book: Modern Irish Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook - Alexander G. Gonzalez . 12 January 1930 . 9780313295577 . 16 July 2016. Gonzalez . Alexander G. . Nelson . Emmanuel Sampath . Gonzalez . Alexander G. . Bloomsbury Academic .
  8. Web site: Members | Aosdana . Aosdana.artscouncil.ie . 16 July 2016.
  9. News: The Irish Times. Rosita Boland. 23 November 2012. 23 November 2012. Banville wins novel of year at awards. 20 January 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130120152905/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/1123/1224327011713.html. dead.