David Marcus (21 August 1924 in

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

9 May 2009) was an Irish Jewish editor and writer who was a lifelong advocate for and editor of Irish fiction.

Life and times

Born in

in 1924, Marcus was the much-loved editor of numerous anthologies of Irish fiction and poetry, including the ''Phoenix Irish Short Stories'' collections. Other notable projects included the page ''New Irish Writing'' for the ''

Irish Press ''The Irish Press'' ( Irish: ''Scéala Éireann'') was an Irish national daily newspaper published by Irish Press plc between 5 September 1931 and 25 May 1995. Foundation The paper's first issue was published on the eve of the 1931 All-Ireland ...

'', which provided a forum for aspiring Irish authors, publishing most of the most important names in Irish fiction, many for the first time, including

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, Ita Daly,

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, Eilis Ni Dhuibhne,

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and William Wall. He was, in the words of Fintan O'Toole "the single most important literary editor in Ireland in the second half of the 20th century". His 1986 novel, ''A Land Not Theirs'', a fictionalized account of the experiences of the Cork Jewish community during the Irish War of Independence was a bestseller. In 1986, his second novel, which drew on his experiences among the Cork Jewish community, ''A Land in Flames'' was also a popular success. In 2001, Marcus published ''Oughtobiography – Leaves from the diary of a hyphenated Jew'', an autobiographical review of his life as an Irish Jew and as an important figure in

Irish literature Irish literature comprises writings in the Irish, Latin, English and Scots ( Ulster Scots) languages on the island of Ireland. The earliest recorded Irish writing dates from the 7th century and was produced by monks writing in both Latin a ...

. On 3 June 2005, he was awarded an honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature by the National University of Ireland,

University College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

Marcus was married to fellow Irish novelist Ita Daly and lived in

Rathgar Rathgar (), is a suburb of Dublin in Ireland. It was originally a village which from 1862 was part of the township of Rathmines and Rathgar; it was absorbed by the growing city and became a suburb in 1930. It lies about three kilometres south of ...

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

. In 2016 she published a memoir of their life together, ''I'll Drop You a Line: A Life With David Marcus''.

Bibliography

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References

External links

Profile of Marcus
at "Irish Writers Online"
Irish P.E.N. Special Award citation of David Marcus

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, David 1924 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Irish people 21st-century Irish people Irish editors Irish-language writers Irish Jews Irish people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent Irish writers Jewish writers People associated with University College Cork People from County Cork The Irish Press people People educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork