Éilís Ní Dhuibhne (; born 22 February 1954), also known as Eilis Almquist and Elizabeth O'Hara, is an Irish novelist and short story writer who writes both in

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 ...

and English. She has been shortlisted for the

Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

, and is a recipient of the

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 ...

Biography

Ní Dhuibhne 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 ...

in 1954. She attended

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), where she studied Pure English for her BA, did an M Phil in Middle English and Old Irish, and finished in 1982 with a PhD in Folklore She was awarded the UCD Entrance scholarship for English, and two post graduate scholarships in Folklore. In 1978-9 she studied at the Folklore Institute in the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

while researching her doctoral thesis, and in 1982 was awarded a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from the

National University of Ireland The National University of Ireland (NUI) ( ga, Ollscoil na hÉireann) is a federal university system of ''constituent universities'' (previously called ''university college, constituent colleges'') and ''recognised colleges'' set up under t ...

(NUI). About her time in Denmark, Ní Dhuibhne states that she "kind of discovered feminism there", because it "was more liberal and advanced politically and in terms of feminism". She has worked in the Department of Irish Folklore in UCD, and for many years as a curator in the

National Library of Ireland The National Library of Ireland (NLI; ga, Leabharlann Náisiúnta na hÉireann) is the Republic of Ireland's national library located in Dublin, in a building designed by Thomas Newenham Deane. The mission of the National Library of Ireland is ...

. Also a teacher of Creative Writing, she has been Writer Fellow 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 ...

and is currently Writer Fellow at UCD. She 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 ...

since 2004, an ambassador for the Irish Writers' Centre, and President of the Folklore of Ireland Society (An Cumann le Béaloideas Éireann). Ní Dhuibhne is the Burns Visiting Scholar at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

for the fall 2020 semester. Ní Dhuibhne was married to the Swedish folklorist

Bo Almqvist Bo Gunnar Almqvist (5 May 1931 – 9 November 2013) was a Swedish academic and folklorist. Early life Bo Gunnar Almqvist was born on 5 May 1931 in Edsgatan, a small community in Alster, a farming district in the province of Varmland, Sweden, a ...

for 30 years until he died suddenly due to a short illness in 2013. She has two children: Ragnar and Olaf. Éilís Ní Dhuibne wrote the memoir ''Twelve Thousand Days: A Memoir of Love and Loss'' about her and her late husband's time together, named after the number of days they were married. Further information on Éilís Ní Dhuibhne's work may be found in Rebecca Pelan, ed, ''Éilís Ní Dhuibhne: Perspectives.'' Galway, Arlen House, 2009.

Awards

* 1985 Listowel Poetry Award * Oireachtas Awards for a play and novels * Butler Prose Award (American Association of Irish Studies) * Bisto Merit Awards for ''The Hiring Fair'' and ''Hurlamaboc'', and Bisto Book of the Year Award for ''Blaeberry Sunday'' * 1986 Arts Council Bursaries * 1998 Arts Council Bursaries * 1997 BBC Irish Language Award * 2000

, shortlisted for ''The Dancers Dancing'' *2014 Hennessy Literature Award * 2015

* 2019 BBC Irish Language Award

List of works

;Novels in English * ''The Bray House'' (1990) * ''Singles'' (1994) * ''The Dancers Dancing'' (1999) * ''Fox, Swallow, Scarecrow'' (2007) *''Sister Caravaggio'' (2014) ;Novels in Irish * ''Dúnmharú sa Daingean'' (2001) * ''Cailíní Beaga Ghleann na mBláth'' (2003) * ''Hurlamaboc'' (2005) * ''Dún an Airgid'' (2008) * ''Dordán'' (2011) *''Aisling Nó Iníon A'' (2015) ;Collections * ''Blood and Water'' (1988) * ''Eating Women Is Not Recommended'' (1991) * ''The Inland Ice'' (1997) * ''The Pale Gold of Alaska'' (2000) * ''Midwife to the Fairies'' (2003) * ''The Shelter of Neighbours'' (2012) * ''Little Red and Other Stories'' (2020) ;Children's Books * ''The Uncommon Cormorant'' (1990) * ''Hugo and the Sunshine Girl'' (1991) * ''The Hiring Fair'' (1992) * ''Blaeberry Sunday'' (1993) * ''Penny Farthing Sally'' (1996) * ''The Sparkling Rain'' (2004) * ''Snobs, Dogs and Scobies'' (2011) ;Plays * ''Dún na mBan Trí Thine''
Produced by Amharclann de hÍde and first performed at the Peacock, Dublin, 1995; * ''Milseog an tSamhraidh''
Produced by Amharclann de hÍde and first performed at the Samuel Beckett Theatre, Trinity College, in 1996; * ''The Nettle Shirts''
Produced by the Abbey and performed at the Peacock Theatre, Dublin, in 1998. Memoirs * ''Twelve Thousand Days: A Memoir of Love and Loss'' (2018)

References

External links

*
Irish AuthorsUCD page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ni Dhuibhne, Eilis 1954 births 20th-century Irish women writers 21st-century Irish women writers Living people Alumni of University College Dublin Aosdána members Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Irish women novelists Academics of University College Dublin University of Copenhagen alumni Irish-language writers Irish PEN Award for Literature winners