Belinda McKeon (born 1979) is an Irish writer. She is the author of two novels, ''Solace'', which won the 2011

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Irish ...

, and ''Tender'' (2015).

Life and work

McKeon was born in

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

and attended

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, and

University College, Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

(UCD). From 2000 to 2010 she worked for ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', writing on theatre, literature and the arts. In 2005 she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, where she completed an MFA at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. McKeon's first novel, ''Solace'', won the

and the Sunday Independent Best Newcomer Award and was named Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book of the Year in 2011, as well as being shortlisted for the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Unit ...

. ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...

'' called ''Solace'' "a warm and wise debut", while ''

'' described it as "at once a moving and gracefully etched story of human loss and interconnection set in contemporary Ireland and a deeply affecting meditation on being in the world". Her second novel ''Tender'' was published in 2015 to critical acclaim. Reviewing it for

the Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

, author

John Boyne John Boyne (born 30 April 1971) is an Irish novelist. He is the author of eleven novels for adults and six novels for younger readers. His novels are published in over 50 languages. His 2006 novel ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' was adapte ...

called ''Tender'' "the best Irish novel I've read since ''The Spinning Heart,'' a work rich with wisdom, truth and beauty.", while

the Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

called it "richly nuanced and utterly absorbing." ''Tender'' was shortlisted for Novel of the Year at the 2015

Irish Book Awards The Irish Book Awards are Irish literary awards given annually to books and authors in various categories. In 2018 An Post took over sponsorship of the awards from Bord Gais Energy. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. ...

. In 2015, McKeon edited ''A Kind of Compass: Stories on Distance'', a collection of new short stories on the theme of distance by 17 international contemporary writers The collection is published by

Tramp Press Tramp Press is a publishing company founded in Dublin in 2014 by Lisa Coen and Sarah Davis-Goff. It is an independent publisher that specialises in Irish fiction. The company is named after John Millington Synge's tramp, a reference to the bold ...

. McKeon is also a playwright and her produced plays include ''Word of Mouth'' (an RTE radio drama, 2005), ''Drapes'' (Dublin, 2006), and ''Graham and Frost'' (Irish Theatre Festival, New York, 2010). From 2008 to 2011, she curated the DLR Poetry Now Festival in

Dún Laoghaire Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built following the 1816 legislation that allowed the building of a major port to serve Dubli ...

County Dublin "Action to match our speech" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Dublin.svg , map_alt = map showing County Dublin as a small area of darker green on the east coast within the lighter green background of ...

, Ireland, and, with her husband Aengus Woods, she has curated the annual Poetry Fest at the Irish Arts Center, New York, since 2009. In 2022 McKeon became the head of Maynooth University's Master of Arts in Creative Writing. She previously was Associate Teaching Professor in Creative Writing at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

List of works

Novels

* ''Solace'' (Picador, 2011); (Scribner, 2011) * ''Tender'' (Picador, 2015); (Lee Boudreaux, 2016)

Plays

* ''Word of Mouth'' (RTE radio drama, 2005) * ''Drapes'' (part of Fishamble Theatre Company's ''Whereabouts'', Dublin, 2006) * ''Two Houses'' (one of two plays in ''Love 2.0'', a Dublin Fringe Festival production in association with the Abbey Theatre, 2008) * ''Graham and Frost'' (1st Irish Theater Festival, New York, 2010) * ''Dropping Slow'' (RTE radio drama, 2012)

Short stories

* "Privacy" (''Being Various'', 2019)

Editor

* ''A Kind of Compass: Stories on Distance'' (Tramp Press, 2015)

Awards

* 2005 RTE PJ O'Connor Radio Drama Award for ''Word of Mouth'' * 2006 Irish Theatre Award for ''Drapes'' as part of Fishamble Theatre Company's ''Whereabouts'' * 2008 Dublin Fringe Festival Audience Choice Award for ''Two Houses'' as part of ''Love 2.0'', along with Philip McMahon's ''Investment Potential'' * 2011 Sunday Independent Best Newcomer Award at the Irish Book Awards for ''Solace'' * 2011 Irish Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards for ''Solace'' * 2011 Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize for ''Solace'' * 2012 Shortlist for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for ''Solace'' * 2012 Shortlist for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year for ''Solace'' * 2015 Shortlist for the Eason Bookclub Novel of the Year at the Irish Book Awards for ''Tender'' * 2015 Shortlist for Encore Award for best second novel for ''Tender.''

References

External links

Official WebsiteIrish Times interview with Belinda McKeonGuardian review of ''Tender''Rutgers University profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeon, Belinda 1979 births Living people Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish women dramatists and playwrights Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Writers from County Longford