Jamie O'Neill (born 1 January 1962) is an Irish author. His critically acclaimed novel, ''
At Swim, Two Boys'' (2001), earned him the highest advance ever paid for an Irish novel and frequent praise as the natural successor to
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
,
Flann O'Brien
Brian O'Nolan (; 5 October 19111 April 1966), his pen name being Flann O'Brien, was an Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland, Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth- ...
and
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...
. He is currently living in Gortachalla in
County Galway
County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...
, having previously lived and worked in England for two decades.
O'Neill's work follows the imaginative route in Irish literature, unlike his realist contemporaries such as
Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín ( , ; born 30 May 1955) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist, critic, playwright and poet.
His first novel, ''The South (novel), The South'', was published in 1990. ''The Blackwater Lightship'' was short ...
or
John McGahern
John McGahern (12 November 1934 – 30 March 2006) was an Irish writer and novelist.
Known for the detailed dissection of Irish life found in works such as '' The Barracks'', '' The Dark'' and '' Amongst Women'', he was hailed by ''The Ob ...
. Terry Pender commented on ''At Swim, Two Boys'': "With only this work O'Neill can take his rightful place among the great Irish writers beginning with Joyce and ending with
Roddy Doyle
Roderick Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ...
".
Background and education
O'Neill was born in
Dún Laoghaire
Dún Laoghaire ( , ) is a suburban coastal town in County Dublin in Ireland. It is the administrative centre of the county of Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown. The town was built up alongside a small existing settlement following 1816 legislation th ...
in 1962 the youngest of four children and was educated at Presentation College,
Glasthule
Glasthule ( ; ) is a suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is along County Dublin, County Dublin’s south coast, between Dún Laoghaire, Sandycove, Glenageary and Dalkey.
Amenities
Sandycove and Glasthule are served by a number ...
,
County Dublin
County Dublin ( or ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, and holds its capital city, Dublin. It is located on the island's east coast, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. Until 1994, County Dubli ...
, run by the
Presentation Brothers, and (in his words) "the city streets of London, the beaches of Greece." He was raised in a home without books, and first discovered that books "could be fun" when he read ''
Ivanhoe
''Ivanhoe: A Romance'' ( ) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in December 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. It marked a shift away from Scott's prior practice of setting stories in Scotland and in the more ...
'' by
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European literature, European and Scottish literature, notably the novels ''Ivanhoe'' (18 ...
, a copy of which he had received as a Christmas gift. It took him two weeks and was the first book he ever finished.
[ O'Neill was unhappy at home; he had a very difficult relationship with his father and ran away at age 17.
He was raised a Catholic and has admitted to a fondness for the language of the Catholic Church, saying, "I like the words, the distinctions they have for sins. For example, "morose delectation." Beautiful. It's the dwelling on pleasure from sins already committed. I kind of admire something that's seen so far inside the soul that it can work out names for these things. Of course, I don't believe a word of it".]
O'Neill lists as his favourite books: '' Ulysses'', by James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
, '' The Last of the Wine'', by Mary Renault, '' Hadrian the Seventh'', by Frederick Rolfe (Frederick Baron Corvo), ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', sometimes shortened to ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', is a six-volume work by the English historian Edward Gibbon. The six volumes cover, from 98 to 1590, the peak of the Ro ...
'', by Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English essayist, historian, and politician. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1789, is known for ...
, '' The Leopard'', by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, '' The Siege of Krishnapur'', by J. G. Farrell, ''One Hundred Years of Solitude
''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' (, ) is a 1967 in literature, 1967 novel by Colombian people, Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that tells the Family saga, multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio ...
'', by Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...
, '' The Third Policeman'', by Flann O'Brien
Brian O'Nolan (; 5 October 19111 April 1966), his pen name being Flann O'Brien, was an Civil Service of the Republic of Ireland, Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth- ...
, '' The Swimming Pool Library'', by Alan Hollinghurst
Sir Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award and the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 2004, he won the Booker Prize for his novel ...
, and '' The Lost Language of Cranes'' by David Leavitt.
He was one of the Irish delegates at the European Writers Conference in Istanbul
Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
in 2010.
Personal life
Following a tumultuous relationship with his father, O'Neill left for England at the age of 17. There, he would continue to stay working at a paracetamol
Paracetamol, or acetaminophen, is a non-opioid analgesic and antipyretic agent used to treat fever and mild to moderate pain. It is a widely available over-the-counter drug sold under various brand names, including Tylenol and Panadol.
Parac ...
factory for some of the time, before returning to Ireland to live in Dalkey
Dalkey ( ; ) is a village in Dún Laoghaire–Rathdown county southeast of Dublin, Ireland. It was founded as a Viking settlement and became a port in the Middle Ages. According to chronicler John Clyn (c.1286–c.1349), it was one of the port ...
. His frequent excursions to London, though, are how O'Neill met with and began a relationship with TV presenter Russell Harty
Frederic Russell Harty (5 September 1934 – 8 June 1988) was an English television presenter of arts programmes and chat show host.
Early life
Harty was born in Blackburn, Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremon ...
, who encouraged him to publish his work.
O'Neill stayed with him until his death in 1988. The British tabloid press, who had run multiple exposés about Harty during his fatal illness, approached O'Neill offering him money to sell his story. Though he rebuffed all these offers, the ''Sunday Mirror'' published a nude photo from his modelling days in London.
Harty's family had O'Neill, who had no legal standing in the estate, removed from the presenter's house; during this difficult period he eventually became homeless.
His first novel, ''Disturbance'', was published in 1989; ''Kilbrack'' followed in 1990. O'Neill struggled to write, parted company with both his agent and publisher, and took a job as a night porter at the Cassel Hospital, a psychiatric institution in Richmond, London
Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...
from 1990 to 2000.
O'Neill was in a London pub when he noticed his dog was missing. Paddy had been found by a ballet dancer named Julien Joly. They began a relationship and Joly was instrumental in helping O'Neill put his life back together. During the ten years that followed, O'Neill wrote '' At Swim, Two Boys'', which was published in 2001. The two events seemed to break the negative cycle of the author's life.
When published in Britain, ''Swim'' was likened to the work of Joyce. The book allowed O'Neill to quit his job as a porter and to open his first bank account.
Ten years after publication, Alison Walsh, reviewing the year 2001 for the '' Sunday Independent'', called it "a vintage one in Irish writing", specifically naming the "unforgettable" ''At Swim, Two Boys'' alongside books 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), ''T ...
, Eoin Colfer
Eoin Colfer (; born 14 May 1965) is an Irish author of children's books. He worked as a primary school teacher before he became a full-time writer. He is best known for being the author of the ''Artemis Fowl'' series. In September 2008, Colf ...
and Nuala O'Faolain.
He and Julien Joly are no longer together.[Other link]
On writing
Bibliography
* ''Disturbance'' (1989)
* ''Kilbrack'' (1990)
* '' At Swim, Two Boys'' (2001)
Awards and honours
Ferro-Grumley Award
for Fiction (for ''At Swim, Two Boys'')
* Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards, also known as the "Lammys", are awarded yearly by Lambda Literary Foundation, Lambda Literary to recognize the crucial role LGBTQ+ writers play in shaping the world. The Lammys celebrate the very best in LGBTQ+ literatur ...
in Gay Men's Fiction (for ''At Swim, Two Boys'')
References
External links
Jamie O'Neill's personal website
The New York Times
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Jamie
1962 births
Living people
Irish gay writers
20th-century Irish novelists
Lambda Literary Award for Gay Fiction winners
Writers from County Dublin
People from Dún Laoghaire
Irish LGBTQ novelists
Irish male novelists
20th-century Irish male writers
21st-century Irish novelists
21st-century Irish male writers
20th-century Irish LGBTQ people
21st-century Irish LGBTQ people