Jennifer Johnston (born 12 January 1930) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

. She has won a number of awards, including the

Whitbread Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

for ''The Old Jest'' in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the

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. ...

(2012). ''The Old Jest'', a novel about the

Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...

, was later made into a film called ''

The Dawning ''The Dawning'' is a 1988 British drama film based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, '' The Old Jest'', which depicts the Irish War of Independence through the eyes of the Anglo-Irish landlord class. It stars Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Grant, Jean Simmon ...

'', starring

Anthony Hopkins Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins (born 31 December 1937) is a Welsh actor, director, and producer. One of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actors, he is known for his performances on the screen and stage. Hopkins has received many accolad ...

, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.

Biography

She was born in

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 ...

to Irish actress and director

Shelah Richards Shelah Geraldine Richards (23 May 1903 – 19 January 1985), was an Irish actress, manager, director and producer. Early life Sheila Geraldine Richards was born on 23 May 1903 in Dublin, to John William Richards and Adelaide Roper. Her father ...

and Irish playwright

Denis Johnston (William) Denis Johnston (18 June 1901 – 8 August 1984) was an Irish writer. Born in Dublin, he wrote mostly plays, but also works of literary criticism, a book-length biographical essay of Jonathan Swift, a memoir and an eccentric work on co ...

. A cousin of actress and film star

Geraldine Fitzgerald Geraldine Mary Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913 – July 17, 2005) was an Irish actress and a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. In 2020, she was listed at number 30 on ''The Irish Times'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Early li ...

, via Fitzgerald's mother, Edith (née Richards), Jennifer Johnston was educated at

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 ...

. For decades, she lived in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, and currently lives near Dublin. Other cousins include the actresses

Tara Fitzgerald Tara Anne Cassandra Fitzgerald (born 18 September 1967) is an English actress who has appeared in feature films, television, radio and the stage. She won the New York Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play in 1995 as Opheli ...

and

Susan Fitzgerald Susan Mary Theresa FitzGerald (28 May 1949 – 9 September 2013) was an Irish actress, best known for her work in television and her work in Irish theatre. She also played the role of May in Samuel Beckett's ''Footfalls'' for the Gate Theat ...

. Johnston was born into the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the second ...

and many of her novels deal with the fading of the Protestant

Anglo-Irish Anglo-Irish people () denotes an ethnic, social and religious grouping who are mostly the descendants and successors of the English Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. They mostly belong to the Anglican Church of Ireland, which was the establis ...

ascendancy in the 20th century. She married a fellow student at Trinity College, Ian Smyth, in 1951. Johnston is a member of

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

Awards and honours

*2012

Lifetime Achievement Award *2006

Irish PEN Award Irish PEN Award for Literature is an annual literary award presented by Irish PEN since 1999. Its intent is to honour an Irish-born writer who has made an outstanding contribution to Irish literature. The award is for a significant body of work an ...

*1989

Giles Cooper Awards The Giles Cooper Awards were honours given to plays written for BBC Radio. Sponsored by the BBC and Methuen Drama, the awards were specifically focused on the script of the best radio drama produced in the past year. Five or six winners were chose ...

for ''O Ananias, Azarias and Misael'' *1979

for ''The Old Jest'' in 1979 *1977

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

shortlist for ''Shadows on our Skin'' *1973 Authors' Club First Novel Award for ''The Captains and the Kings''

List of works

;Novels * ''The Captains and the Kings'' (1972), winner of the

Author's Club First Novel Award The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award is awarded by the Authors' Club to the most promising first novel of the year, written by a British author and published in the UK during the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is presented. ...

* ''

The Gates ''The Gates'' were a group of gates comprising a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along of ...

'' (1973) * '' How Many Miles to Babylon?'' (1974) * '' Shadows on Our Skin'' (1977), shortlisted for the

* '' The Old Jest'' (1979), winner of a

for 1979 * '' The Nightingale and Not the Lark'' (1980) * ''

The Christmas Tree A Christmas tree is a decorated tree, usually an evergreen pinophyta, conifer, such as a spruce, pine or fir, or an artificial tree of similar appearance, associated with the celebration of Christmas. The custom was further developed in earl ...

'' (1981) * ''

The Railway Station Man ''The Railway Station Man'' is a 1992 British drama film directed by Michael Whyte, and starring Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland and John Lynch. It was based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Irish writer Jennifer Johnston. It was filme ...

'' (1984) * '' Fool's Sanctuary'' (1987) * '' The Invisible Worm'' (1991) * '' The Illusionist'' (1995) * '' Three Monologues: "Twinkletoes", "Musn't Forget High Noon", "Christine"'' (1995) * '' The Desert Lullaby'' (1996) * '' Finbar's Hotel'', edited by

Dermot Bolger Dermot Bolger (born 1959) is an Irish novelist, playwright, poet and editor from Dublin, Ireland. Born in the Finglas suburb of Dublin in 1959, his older sister is the writer June Considine. Bolger's novels include ''Night Shift'' (1982), ''Th ...

(1997) (Contributor) * ''

Two Moons Two Moons (1847–1917), or ''Ishaynishus'' (Cheyenne language, Cheyenne: ''Éše'he Ôhnéšesêstse''), was one of the Cheyenne chiefs who took part in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and other battles against the United States Army. Life Two ...

'' (1998) * '' The Essential Jennifer Johnston'' (1999) (contains ''The Captains and the Kings'', ''The Railway Station Man'', and ''Fool's Sanctuary'') * '' Great Irish Stories of Murder and Mystery'' (2000) (Contributor) * '' The Gingerbread Woman'' (2000) * '' Mondschatten'' (2000) * '' This is not a Novel'' (2002) * '' Grace and Truth'' (2005) * '' Foolish Mortals'' (2007) * '' Truth or Fiction'' (2009) * '' Shadowstory'' (2011) * '' Fathers and Son'' (2012) * '' A Sixpenny Song'' (2013) * '' Naming the Stars'' (2015) ;Plays * '' The Nightingale and Not the Lark'' (1981) * ''

Indian Summer An Indian summer is a period of unseasonably warm, dry weather that sometimes occurs in autumn in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Several sources describe a true Indian summer as not occurring until after the first frost, or more s ...

'' (1983) * '' Andante un Poco Mosso'', in '' The Best Short Plays 1983'' (1983) * '' The Porch'' (1986) * '' The Desert Lullaby: A Play in Two Acts'' (1996) * '' The Christmas Tree: A Play in Two Acts'' (2015)

References

External links

*
"Jennifer Johnston's Works"
provides a decidedly pejorative view of Johnston's works *

Jennifer Johnston on Amazon.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Jennifer 1930 births Living people Aosdána members Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Irish women novelists Writers from Dublin (city) Irish women dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish women writers 21st-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish women writers 20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Irish dramatists and playwrights People educated at Rathdown School Irish PEN Award for Literature winners

Biography

Awards and honours

List of works

See also

References

External links