Anne Enright
Encyclopedia
Anne Enright is a Booker Prize
-winning Irish
author
. She has published essays, short stories, a non-fiction book and four novels. Before her novel The Gathering
won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, Enright had a low profile in Ireland
and the United Kingdom
, although her books were favourably reviewed and widely praised. Her writing explores themes
such as family relationships, love and sex, Ireland's difficult past and its modern zeitgeist
.
, British Columbia
, where she studied for an International Baccalaureate
for two years. She received an English and philosophy degree from Trinity College Dublin. She began writing in earnest when her family gave her an electric typewriter for her 21st birthday. She won a scholarship to the University of East Anglia's
Creative Writing Course
, where she was taught by Angela Carter
and Malcolm Bradbury
and earned an M.A.
Enright was a television producer and director for RTÉ
in Dublin for six years. She was a producer for the ground-breaking RTÉ programme Nighthawks for four years. She then worked in children's programming for two years and wrote at the weekends. The Portable Virgin, a collection of her short stories, was published in 1991. The Portable Virgin won the 1991 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
. Enright began writing full-time in 1993.
Enright lives in Bray
, County Wicklow
. She is married to Martin Murphy, who is director of the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire
. They have two children.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
, and sex. The narrator of the novel is Grace, who lives in Dublin and works for a tacky game show
. Her father wears a wig that cannot be spoken of in front of him. An angel
called Stephen who committed suicide in 1934 and has come back to earth to guide lost souls moves into Grace's home and she falls in love with him.
Enright's next novel, What Are You Like? (2000), is about twin girls called Marie and Maria who are separated at birth and raised apart from each other in Dublin and London
. It looks at tensions and ironies between family members. It was short-listed in the novel category of the Whitbread Awards
. The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch (2002) is a fictionalised
account of the life of Eliza Lynch
, an Irish woman who was the consort of Paraguay
an president
Francisco Solano López
and became Paraguay's most powerful woman in the 19th century. Her book Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood (2004) is a collection of candid and humorous essays about childbirth and motherhood. Enright's fourth novel, The Gathering
, was published in 2007.
Enright's writings have appeared in several magazines, including The New Yorker
, The Paris Review, Granta
, the London Review of Books
, the Dublin Review
, and the Irish Times. She was once a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4
, and now reviews for The Guardian
and RTÉ. The 4 October 2007 issue of the London Review of Books
published her essay, "Disliking the McCanns", about Kate and Gerry McCann
, the British parents of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances while on holiday in Portugal
in May 2007. The essay was criticized by some journalists.
Enright won the Davy Byrne's Irish Writing Award for 2004. She also won the Royal Society of Authors Encore Prize. On 16 October 2007 Enright was awarded the Man Booker Prize, which included a cash award of £
50,000, for The Gathering. The novel also won the 2008 Irish Novel of the Year
.
In 2011 the Irish Academic Press published a collection of essays on Enright's work, edited by Claire Bracken and Susan Cahill.
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
-winning Irish
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
. She has published essays, short stories, a non-fiction book and four novels. Before her novel The Gathering
The Gathering (Enright novel)
The Gathering is the fourth novel by Irish author Anne Enright. It won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, eventually chosen unanimously by the jury after having largely been considered an outsider to win the prize...
won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, Enright had a low profile in Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, although her books were favourably reviewed and widely praised. Her writing explores themes
Theme (literature)
A theme is a broad, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character,...
such as family relationships, love and sex, Ireland's difficult past and its modern zeitgeist
Zeitgeist
Zeitgeist is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age."Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.The...
.
Life
Enright won an international scholarship to Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific in VictoriaVictoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, where she studied for an International Baccalaureate
IB Diploma Programme
The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a two-year educational programme for students aged 16–19that provides an internationally accepted qualification for entry into higher education, and is recognised by universities worldwide. It was developed in the early to mid-1960s in Geneva by...
for two years. She received an English and philosophy degree from Trinity College Dublin. She began writing in earnest when her family gave her an electric typewriter for her 21st birthday. She won a scholarship to the University of East Anglia's
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
Creative Writing Course
UEA Creative Writing Course
The University of East Anglia's Creative Writing Course was founded by Sir Malcolm Bradbury and Sir Angus Wilson in 1970. The M.A. is widely regarded as the most prestigious and successful in the country and competition for places is notoriously tough....
, where she was taught by Angela Carter
Angela Carter
Angela Carter was an English novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works...
and Malcolm Bradbury
Malcolm Bradbury
Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury CBE was an English author and academic.-Life:Bradbury was the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 with his brother and mother...
and earned an M.A.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
Enright was a television producer and director for RTÉ
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
in Dublin for six years. She was a producer for the ground-breaking RTÉ programme Nighthawks for four years. She then worked in children's programming for two years and wrote at the weekends. The Portable Virgin, a collection of her short stories, was published in 1991. The Portable Virgin won the 1991 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the notable Irish American businessman, Dr Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL franchise, Pittsburgh Steelers....
. Enright began writing full-time in 1993.
Enright lives in Bray
Bray
Bray is a town in north County Wicklow, Ireland. It is a busy urban centre and seaside resort, with a population of 31,901 making it the fourth largest in Ireland as of the 2006 census...
, County Wicklow
County Wicklow
County Wicklow is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-East Region and is also located in the province of Leinster. It is named after the town of Wicklow, which derives from the Old Norse name Víkingalág or Wykynlo. Wicklow County Council is the local authority for the county...
. She is married to Martin Murphy, who is director of the Pavilion Theatre in Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire or Dún Laoire , sometimes anglicised as "Dunleary" , is a suburban seaside town in County Dublin, Ireland, about twelve kilometres south of Dublin city centre. It is the county town of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County and a major port of entry from Great Britain...
. They have two children.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
Royal Society of Literature
The Royal Society of Literature is the "senior literary organisation in Britain". It was founded in 1820 by George IV, in order to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". The Society's first president was Thomas Burgess, who later became the Bishop of Salisbury...
Works
Enright's first novel, The Wig My Father Wore, was published in 1995. The book explores themes such as love, motherhood, Roman CatholicismRoman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, and sex. The narrator of the novel is Grace, who lives in Dublin and works for a tacky game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
. Her father wears a wig that cannot be spoken of in front of him. An angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
called Stephen who committed suicide in 1934 and has come back to earth to guide lost souls moves into Grace's home and she falls in love with him.
Enright's next novel, What Are You Like? (2000), is about twin girls called Marie and Maria who are separated at birth and raised apart from each other in Dublin and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. It looks at tensions and ironies between family members. It was short-listed in the novel category of the Whitbread Awards
Costa Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in Great Britain and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship....
. The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch (2002) is a fictionalised
Historical fiction
Historical fiction tells a story that is set in the past. That setting is usually real and drawn from history, and often contains actual historical persons, but the principal characters tend to be fictional...
account of the life of Eliza Lynch
Eliza Lynch
Eliza Lynch was the mistress of Francisco Solano López, president of Paraguay.-Early life:She was born Eliza Alicia Lynch in Charleville, County Cork, Ireland. She emigrated at the age of ten with her family to Paris to escape the Great Irish Famine...
, an Irish woman who was the consort of Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
an president
President of Paraguay
The President of Paraguay is according to the Paraguayan Constitution the Chief of the Executive branch of the Government of Paraguay...
Francisco Solano López
Francisco Solano López (politician)
Francisco Solano López Carrillo was president of Paraguay from 1862 until his death in 1870. He was officially the eldest son of president Carlos Antonio López, whom he succeeded...
and became Paraguay's most powerful woman in the 19th century. Her book Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood (2004) is a collection of candid and humorous essays about childbirth and motherhood. Enright's fourth novel, The Gathering
The Gathering (Enright novel)
The Gathering is the fourth novel by Irish author Anne Enright. It won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, eventually chosen unanimously by the jury after having largely been considered an outsider to win the prize...
, was published in 2007.
Enright's writings have appeared in several magazines, including The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, The Paris Review, Granta
Granta
Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...
, the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, the Dublin Review
Dublin Review
The Dublin Review may mean either of these journals:*Dublin Review , a Catholic publication*The Dublin Review , a literary magazine...
, and the Irish Times. She was once a regular contributor to BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
, and now reviews for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and RTÉ. The 4 October 2007 issue of the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
published her essay, "Disliking the McCanns", about Kate and Gerry McCann
Disappearance of Madeleine McCann
Madeleine McCann disappeared on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007. She was on holiday with her parents and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The British girl went missing from an apartment, in the central area of the resort of Praia da Luz, a few days before her fourth...
, the British parents of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in suspicious circumstances while on holiday in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in May 2007. The essay was criticized by some journalists.
Enright won the Davy Byrne's Irish Writing Award for 2004. She also won the Royal Society of Authors Encore Prize. On 16 October 2007 Enright was awarded the Man Booker Prize, which included a cash award of £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
50,000, for The Gathering. The novel also won the 2008 Irish Novel of the Year
Irish Book Awards
The Irish Book Awards is an annual Irish literary award given to books and authors in various categories. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. First awarded in 2006, they grew out of the Hughes & Hughes bookstore's Irish Novel of the Year Prize which was inaugurated in...
.
In 2011 the Irish Academic Press published a collection of essays on Enright's work, edited by Claire Bracken and Susan Cahill.
Books
- The Portable Virgin (1991)
- The Wig My Father Wore (1995)
- What Are You Like? (2000)
- The Pleasure of Eliza Lynch (2002)
- Making Babies: Stumbling into Motherhood (2004)
- The GatheringThe Gathering (Enright novel)The Gathering is the fourth novel by Irish author Anne Enright. It won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, eventually chosen unanimously by the jury after having largely been considered an outsider to win the prize...
(2007) - Taking PicturesTaking Pictures (novel)Taking Pictures is the second collection of short stories by Irish Author Anne Enright. It was first published in 2008....
(2008) - Yesterday's Weather (2009)
- The Forgotten Waltz (2011)
Articles
- What’s left of Henrietta Lacks? 13 April 2000, London Review of Books.
- My Milk, 5 October 2000, London Review of Books.
- Diary: Listen to Heloïse, 10 May 2007, London Review of Books.
- Diary: Disliking the McCanns, 4 October 2007, London Review of Books.
- 'Natalie,' short story in The New Yorker.
- "Little Sister" Granta, issue 75.
- "Shaft" Granta, issue 85. Subject: Angela CarterAngela CarterAngela Carter was an English novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picaresque works...
Interviews
- Transcript of interview with Ramona KovalRamona KovalRamona Koval is an Australian broadcaster, writer and journalist.Her parents were Yiddish-speaking survivors of the Holocaust who arrived in Melbourne from Poland in 1950....
on The Book ShowThe Book ShowThe Book Show is an Australian ABC radio program for the discussion of everything relating to the written word. It is broadcast live around Australia on Radio National with a daily weekday morning show which is then replayed nightly and also has a Sunday evening show. The show is hosted by Ramona...
, ABC Radio National, 15 September 2008, recorded at Edinburgh International Book Festival 2008. - Guardian interview with Anne Enright after her Man Booker Prize win.
- Audio and video interviews with Anne Enright at RTÉ.ie.
- October 2007 interview with Anne Enright in the Bray People.
- 2002 interview with Anne Enright in The Sunday Business Post.
- Podcast of Anne Enright discussing her Man Booker Prize at the Shanghai International Literary Festival
- "The TLS on Anne Enright": a collection of pieces on Anne Enright from The Times Literary SupplementThe Times Literary SupplementThe Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
, 17 October 2007. - An interview and a reading from The Gathering on La Clé des langues, May 2010
- 2011 radio interview at The Bat Segundo ShowThe Bat Segundo ShowThe Bat Segundo Show is a podcast based in New York run by writer and literary critic Edward Champion.The program features comprehensive interviews with prominent figures in arts and culture, with a special focus on literature. Past guests have included David Mitchell, David Lynch, Amy Sedaris,...
- "Anne Enright, August 2008." Close to the Next Moment: Interviews from a Changing Ireland by Jody Allen Randolph. Manchester: Carcanet, 2010.