Joseph O'Connor
{{Short description|Irish novelist (born 1963)}}
{{other people}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Joseph O'Connor
| image = Joseph O'Connor.jpg
| caption = O'Connor introducing the Czech translation of one of his books in 2008
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1963|9|20}}
| birth_place = Dublin, Ireland
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Novelist, journalist
| genre =
| movement =
| notableworks = Star of the Sea (2002)
| website = {{URL|josephoconnorauthor.com}}
| signature =
| footnotes =
| spouse = Anne-Marie Casey
| relatives = Sinéad O'Connor (sister)
| children = 2
}}
Joseph Victor O'Connor (born 20 September 1963) is an Irish novelist. His 2002 historical novel Star of the Sea was an international number one bestseller. Before success as an author, he was a journalist with the Sunday Tribune newspaper and Esquire.{{cite web
|url=http://www.readireland.ie/aotm/dec97.html
|title=Read Ireland – Featured Authors
|publisher=Readireland.ie
|access-date=21 May 2011
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519155837/http://readireland.ie/aotm/dec97.html
|archive-date=19 May 2011
}} He is a regular contributor to RTÉ and a member of the Irish artists' association Aosdána.{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0405/1224293869275.html|title=O'Connor one of five new Aosdána members|newspaper=The Irish Times|publisher=Irish Times Trust|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=8 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208181631/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2011/0405/1224293869275.html|url-status=live}}
Early life
O'Connor is the eldest of five children and brother of singer Sinéad O'Connor. He is from the Glenageary area of south Dublin.{{cite web
|url=http://southcountydublin.forumforus.com/Glenageary
|title=Glenageary roots
|publisher=Southcountydublin.forumforus.com
|access-date=4 May 2010
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100325024850/http://southcountydublin.forumforus.com/Glenageary
|archive-date=25 March 2010
|author=Ciarán Byrne
|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/wanderly-wagon-wizard-makes-final-journey-2082518.html
|title=The late Eugene Lambert – neighbour and artist from south Dublin
|publisher=Irish Independent
|date=27 February 2010
|access-date=9 June 2012
|archive-date=23 October 2012
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023204028/http://www.independent.ie/national-news/wanderly-wagon-wizard-makes-final-journey-2082518.html
|url-status=live
}} His parents are Sean O'Connor, a structural engineer who later turned barrister, and Marie O'Connor.
Educated at Blackrock College, O'Connor graduated from University College Dublin with an M.A. in Anglo-Irish Literature. He did post-graduate work at Oxford University and received a second M.A. from Leeds Metropolitan University's Northern School of Film and Television in screenwriting. In the late 1980s, he worked for the British Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign; his second novel, Desperadoes, drew on his experiences in revolutionary Nicaragua.{{cite web
|url=http://www.josephoconnorauthor.com/about.html
|title=About Joseph O'Connor
|publisher=Josephoconnorauthor.com
|date=20 September 1963
|access-date=21 May 2011
|archive-date=13 July 2011
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713121054/http://www.josephoconnorauthor.com/about.html
|url-status=live
}}
Career
O'Connor's novel Cowboys and Indians (1991) was on the shortlist for the Whitbread Prize.
On 10 February 1985 his mother was killed in a car accident.{{cite web
|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/sineads-love-of-her-devil-mum-26297965.html
|title=Sinead's love of her 'devil' mum
|publisher=Irish Independent
|first=Brendan
|last=O'Connor
|date=2007-06-17
|access-date=25 December 2020}} The mother of his character Sweeney in The Salesman (1998) died in the same manner.
In 2002, he wrote the novel Star of the Sea, which The Economist listed as one of the top books of 2003. His 2010 novel, Ghost Light is loosely based on the life of the actress Maire O'Neill, born Mary "Molly" Allgood, and her relationship with the Irish playwright John Millington Synge. It was published by Harvill Secker of London in 2010.{{cite web
|url=http://www.josephoconnorauthor.com/novel-ghost-light.html
|title=Ghost Light by Joseph O'Connor
|publisher=Josephoconnorauthor.com
|access-date=21 May 2011
|archive-date=2 August 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802130848/http://www.josephoconnorauthor.com/novel-ghost-light.html
|url-status=live
}}
O'Connor was a Research Fellow at the New York Public Library and Visiting Professor of Creative Writing/Writer in Residence at Baruch College, the City University of New York.
In 2014, he was announced as the inaugural Frank McCourt Chair in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick, where he teaches on the MA in Creative Writing.{{cite news|title=Joseph O'Connor appointed to chair in creative writing at University of Limerick|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/joseph-o-connor-appointed-to-chair-in-creative-writing-at-university-of-limerick-1.1697859|access-date=11 December 2015|publisher=Irish Times|date=20 February 2014|archive-date=22 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222104235/http://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/joseph-o-connor-appointed-to-chair-in-creative-writing-at-university-of-limerick-1.1697859|url-status=live}}
He was a regular contributor to Drivetime, an evening news and current affairs programme on RTÉ Radio 1.{{cite news
|url=http://www.tribune.ie/article/2008/jul/20/reasons-to-be-cheerful-joe-oconnor-sees-good-in-th/
|title=Reasons to be cheerful: Joe O'Connor sees good in the recession
|publisher=Tribune.ie
|date=20 July 2008
|access-date=4 May 2010
}}{{dead link|date=June 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
O'Connor's Shadowplay, published in 2019, was shortlisted for the 2019 Costa Book Prize in the Novel category.
Personal life
O'Connor is married to television and film writer Anne-Marie Casey. They have two sons. He and his family have lived in London and Dublin, and occasionally resided in New York City.
Awards and Honours
Selected publications
- Cowboys and Indians (1991)
- True Believers (Short Stories)
- Even the Olives Are Bleeding: The Life and Times of Charles Donnelly (1993)
- Desperadoes (1993)
- The Secret World of the Irish Male (1994)
- The Irish Male at Home and Abroad (1996)
- Sweet Liberty: Travels in Irish America (1996)
- The Salesman (1998)
- Inishowen (2000)
- The Comedian (2000)
- The Last of the Irish Males (2001)
- Star of the Sea: Farewell to Old Ireland (2002){{cite web
|url=http://www.mostlyfiction.com/history/oconnor.htm
|title=Review of "Star of the Sea"
|publisher=Mostlyfiction.com
|access-date=4 May 2010
|archive-date=12 March 2010
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100312062219/http://www.mostlyfiction.com/history/oconnor.htm
|url-status=live
}}
- Redemption Falls (2007)
- Ghost Light (2010)
- Where Have You Been? (2012) (Short Stories)
- The Thrill of It All (2014)
- Shadowplay (2019)
- My Father's House (2023)Reviews: {{bulleted list|{{Cite web |last=Craven |first=Peter |date=2023-03-10 |title=This dazzling book about a priest fighting Nazis will keep you reading all night |url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/books/the-irish-priest-fighting-the-nazis-from-the-heart-of-the-vatican-20230306-p5cpub.html |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}|{{Cite news |title=Review {{!}} In the gripping 'My Father's House,' a priest takes on the Nazis |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2023/01/27/world-war-ii-novel-my-fathers-house/ |access-date=2023-03-12 |issn=0190-8286}}|{{Cite web |last=Mundow |first=Anna |title='My Father's House' Review: The Monsignor vs. The Nazis |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/my-fathers-house-review-oconnor-a-rescuer-in-rome-11673622845 |access-date=2023-03-12 |website=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US}}|{{Cite news |date=2023-01-12 |title=My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor — rebel with a cause |work=Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/b34f89e2-5365-4cb8-a1b2-07cce4d9b1c6 |access-date=2023-03-12}}|{{Cite news |last=Popescu |first=Lucy |date=2023-02-12 |title=My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor review – a literary thriller of the highest order |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/feb/12/my-fathers-house-by-joseph-oconnor-review-a-literary-thriller-of-the-highest-order |access-date=2023-03-12 |issn=0029-7712}}|{{Cite news |title=My Father's House by Joseph O'Connor: A masterful, seamless blend of fact and fiction |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/review/2023/01/28/my-fathers-house-by-joseph-oconnor-a-masterful-seamless-blend-of-fact-and-fiction/ |access-date=2023-03-12 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en}} }}
- The Ghosts of Rome (2025){{Cite news |last=Preston |first=Alex |date=2025-02-04 |title=Escaping the Nazis, With Help From a Priest and a Countess |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/04/books/review/joseph-oconnor-ghosts-of-rome.html |access-date=2025-02-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
Stage plays
- Red Roses and Petrol
- The Weeping of Angels
- My Cousin Rachel – stage adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel.
- Handel's Crossing
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsO/o-connor-joseph.html www.doollee.com – The Playwrights' Database] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120129171530/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsO/o-connor-joseph.html |date=29 January 2012 }}
- [http://www.identitytheory.com/interviews/birnbaum113.html identitytheory.com interview]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070929132227/http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?userid=PP3xePECrU&cid=1118194#interview Barnesandnoble.com interview]
- [http://josephoconnorauthor.com/ Personal Website]
{{RTÉ Radio 1}}
{{Sinéad O'Connor}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oconnor, Joseph}}
Category:20th-century Irish people
Category:21st-century Irish people
Category:Alumni of University College Dublin
Category:Irish dramatists and playwrights
Category:Irish male dramatists and playwrights
Category:People from Glenageary
Category:Sunday Tribune people
Category:People educated at Blackrock College