The Irish PEN Award for Literature (formerly the Irish PEN/A.T. Cross Award for Literature)

Thomas Kilroy, winner of the 2008 Irish PEN AT Cross Award for Literature

In 1998 Irish PEN set up an award to honour an Irish-born writer who has made an outstanding contribution to Irish Literature. This Award is for a significant body of work, written and produced over a number of years, and is open to novelists, playwrights, poets, scriptwriters etc.

Members of Irish PEN, as well as previous winners nominate and vote for the candidate. In keeping with the tradition started at the W.B. Yeats dinner in 1935, the writer is presented with the Award in the company of other writers at our annual dinner.

For many years the award was sponsored by A.T. Cross, a leading producer of quality pens. Nowadays, it is simply the Irish PEN Award. In 1999 the first Irish PEN / A.T.Cross Award was presented to John B. Keane. Since then Brian Friel, Edna O’Brien, William Trevor, John McGahern, Neil Jordan, Seamus Heaney, Jennifer Johnston, Maeve Binchy, Thomas Kilroy and Roddy Doyle have

Roddy Doyle, recipient of the Irish PEN Award for Literature January 2009

 been recipients. Brendan Kennelly was awarded with the Irish PEN lifetime achivement award on 29 January 2010. For report, entitled ‘I see you dancing, Brendan’ see Archive February 2010.

Much-loved Maeve Binchy received the Irish PEN award in January 2007

Senator David Norris, Anne Hartigan and Brendan Kennelly, recipient of the Irish PEN lifetime achievement award for literature January 2010