Claire Keegan
Claire Keegan (born 1968) is an Irish writer known for her short stories, which have been published in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, Granta, and The Paris Review.[1][2]
Claire Keegan | |
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![]() Keegan at the Dublin Writers Festival in 2007. | |
Born | 1968 (age 54–55) County Wicklow, Ireland |
Occupation | Short story writer |
Notable works | Antarctica Walk the Blue Fields Foster Small Things Like These |
Notable awards | Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2000 Davy Byrnes Irish Writing Award 2009 |
Website | |
ckfictionclinic |
Biography
Born in County Wicklow in 1968, Keegan is the youngest of a large Roman Catholic family. She traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, when she was 17 and studied English and political science at Loyola University. She returned to Ireland in 1992, and later lived for a year in Cardiff, Wales, where she undertook an MA in creative writing and taught undergraduates at the University of Wales. She subsequently received an M.Phil at Trinity College Dublin.[3]
Keegan's first collection of short stories, Antarctica (1999), won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and the William Trevor Prize.[4][5] Her second collection of short stories, Walk the Blue Fields, was published in 2007. Keegan's 'long, short story'[6] Foster won the 2009 Davy Byrnes Short Story Award.[7] Foster appeared in the 15 February 2010 issue of New Yorker; it was later published by Faber and Faber in longer form. Foster is now included as a text for the Irish Leaving Certificate.[8] It was adapted for film by writer/director Colm Bairéad in 2021 and released as An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) in May 2022.
In late 2021, Keegan published a novella, Small Things Like These, set in Ireland in the mid-1980s.[6][9] It was shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize.[10]
Keegan lives in rural Ireland.
Works
- 1999 – Antarctica
- 2007 – Walk the Blue Fields
- 2010 – Foster
- 2021 – Small Things Like These
- 2023 - So Late in the Day
Awards and honours
Keegan has won the inaugural William Trevor Prize,[11] the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature,[11] the Olive Cook Award and the Davy Byrnes Irish Writing Award 2009.[11] Other awards include the Hugh Leonard Bursary, the Macaulay Fellowship,[11] the Martin Healy Prize, the Kilkenny Prize, and the Tom Gallon Award. She was also a 2002 Wingate Scholar and a two-time recipient of the Francis MacManus Award. She was a visiting professor at Villanova University in 2008. Keegan was the Ireland Fund Artist-in-Residence in the Celtic Studies Department of St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto in March 2009.[12] In 2019, she was appointed as Writing Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.[13] Pembroke College Cambridge and Trinity College Dublin selected Keegan as the 2021 Briena Staunton Visiting Fellow.[14]
The French translation of Small Things Like These (Ce genre de petites choses) has been shortlisted for two prestigious awards: the Francophonie Ambassadors' Literary Award[15] and the Grand Prix de L'Heroine Madame Figaro.[16] In March 2021, Keegan and her French translator, Jacqueline Odin, won the Francophonie Ambassadors' Literary Award.[17] Small Things Like These won the 2022 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.[18] It was also shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize and is the shortest book recognized in the history of the prize.[19]
References
- "Claire Keegan: 'Short stories are limited. I'm cornered into writing what I can' Interview". The Guardian. 4 September 2010.
- Barrett, Colin (4 March 2015). "In praise of Claire Keegan, by Colin Barrett". The Irish Times.
- "Claire Keegan". Aosdana. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- Griswold, Jerry (2 December 2001). "Best Books of 2001". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- Sinnott, Una (25 April 2013). "The long and the short of the short story". Galway Advertiser. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- Armitstead, Claire (21 October 2021). "Claire Keegan: 'I think something needs to be as long as it needs to be'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- Boland, Rosita (23 June 2009). "Writer Claire Keegan wins €25,000 Davy Byrnes award". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- Gilmartin, Sarah (16 July 2014). "What to read on holiday in...Ireland". The Irish Times. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- Gilmartin, Sarah (24 October 2021). "Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan: a timely and powerful book". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- "Irish author Claire Keegan nominated for prestigious Booker Prize". TheJournal. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
- Boland, Rosita (23 June 2009). "Writer Claire Keegan wins €25,000 Davy Byrnes award". The Irish Times.
- "SMC Sponsored Programs - Celtic Studies - Ireland Fund Artist-in-Residence Program | University of St. Michael's College". stmikes.utoronto.ca. Archived from the original on 29 September 2017. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
- webmaster, Arts Council (12 October 2019). "Writer-in-Residence/Fellowship Appointments 2019/2020". www.artscouncil.ie.
- "2021 Briena Staunton Visiting Fellowship Awarded to Claire Keegan". Claire Keegan Fiction Writing Courses. 29 July 2020.
- "Discover the authors nominated for the Ireland Francophonie Ambassadors' Literary Award 2021". Ambassade de France en Irlande - French Embassy in Ireland.
- "MADAME FIGARO, finalistes du Grand Prix de l'Héroïne 2021, vendredi 12 février 2021 | Revue de presse • SABINE WESPIESER ÉDITEUR".
- "Ireland Francophonie Ambassadors' Literary Award Ceremony 2021". Ambassade de France en Irlande - French Embassy in Ireland.
- "The Orwell Prizes 2022: Winners Announced | The Orwell Foundation". www.orwellfoundation.com. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
- Mackay-Smith, Donna (2022). "Reading Guide: Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan". thebookerprizes.com. The Booker Prizes. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- "Literature". Aosdána.
- "Aosdána elects 10 new members and announces Camille Souter as Saoi". The Arts Council. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
External links
- Claire Keegan at Aosdána
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV1TW1hdaf8 A reading of Foster by Evanna Lynch