Irish PEN Award for Literature is an annual literary award presented by Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann 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 and is open to novelists, playwrights, poets, and scriptwriters.
In 2012, the award was presented to novelist Joseph O'Connor by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.
The award is one of many PEN awards sponsored by PEN affiliates in over 145 PEN centres around the world.
Recipients 1999: John B. Keane 2000: Brian Friel 2001: Edna O'Brien 2002: William Trevor 2003: John McGahern 2004: Neil Jordan 2005: Seamus Heaney 2006: Jennifer Johnston 2007: Maeve Binchy 2008: Thomas Kilroy 2009: Roddy Doyle 2010: Brendan Kennelly 2011: Colm Tóibín 2012: Joseph O'Connor 2013: John Banville 2014: Frank McGuinness 2015: Éilís Ní Dhuibhne 2017: Anne Enright
2018: Catherine Dunne 2019: Eavan Boland
References
External links Irish PEN Award for Literature, official website