en.wikipedia.org

Jennifer Johnston (novelist) - Wikipedia

  • ️Sun Jan 12 1930

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jennifer Johnston

BornJennifer Prudence Johnston
12 January 1930[1]
Dublin, Ireland
Died25 February 2025 (aged 95)
Dún Laoghaire, Ireland
OccupationNovelist
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
SpouseIan Smyth (m. 1951-?); 4 children
David Gilliland (his death)
Relatives

Jennifer Prudence Johnston[2] (12 January 1930 – 25 February 2025) was an Irish novelist. She won a number of awards, including the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979 and a Lifetime Achievement from the Irish Book Awards (2012). The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence, was later made into a film called The Dawning, starring Anthony Hopkins, produced by Sarah Lawson and directed by Robert Knights.[3]

Jennifer Johnston was born in Dublin on 12 January 1930, to Irish actress and director Shelah Richards and Irish playwright Denis Johnston.[4] A cousin of actress and film star Geraldine Fitzgerald, via Fitzgerald's mother, Edith (née Richards), Jennifer Johnston was educated at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1965 with a degree in ancient and modern literature.[5][6] She was born into the Church of Ireland and many of her novels deal with the fading of the Protestant Anglo-Irish ascendancy in the 20th century.

She was a member of Aosdána.[7]

Jennifer was married twice. In 1951 she married a fellow student at Trinity College, Ian Smyth.[12] Their four children are Patrick Smyth,[13] Sarah, Lucy, and Malachy. After marrying her second husband, David Gilliland, she lived in Derry.[14] After being widowed, she moved back to Dublin.[15] Her cousins included the actresses Susan Fitzgerald[16] and Tara Fitzgerald.[17]

Johnston suffered from dementia in later years. She died at a nursing home in Dún Laoghaire, on 25 February 2025, at the age of 95.[18] Among the tributes paid to her was one by Irish President Michael D Higgins who recalled that "throughout her many novels and plays, provided a deep and meaningful examination of the nature and limitations of identity, family and personal connections throughout the tumultuous events of 20th century Irish life".[1]

Novels
Plays
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j O'Rourke, Evelyn (26 February 2025). "President leads tributes to novelist Jennifer Johnston". RTÉ.ie.
  2. ^ a b c Donovan, Katie (1995). Ireland's Women: Writings Past and Present. W. W. Norton & Company. p. 525. ISBN 978-0-393-31360-4.
  3. ^ "Jennifer Johnston − Literature". Literature.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "A shaper of sophisticated stories". Irishtimes.com. 9 January 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  5. ^ a b Rosie Cowan (11 February 2004). "Rosie Cowan on Jennifer Johnston". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  6. ^ Sherlock, D.J.M. (2006). Trinity College Record Volume 2006. Dublin: Trinity College Dublin Press. ISBN 1-871408-07-5.
  7. ^ "Members | Aosdana". Aosdana.artscouncil.ie. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  8. ^ Mullan, Kevin (26 February 2025). "Tributes paid to Jennifer Johnston – 'one of the finest Irish novelists'". Derry Journal.
  9. ^ Doyle, Kilian (14 May 2001). "Trinity College names three Honorary Fellows". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 September 2024.
  10. ^ "Irish PEN/PEN na hÉireann". Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  11. ^ Rosita Boland (23 November 2012). "Banville wins novel of year at awards". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  12. ^ Gonzalez, Alexander G. (12 January 1930). Modern Irish Writers: A Bio-critical Sourcebook. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9780313295577. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  13. ^ Smyth, Patrick. "Storyteller's shadow: Patrick Smyth on his mother Jennifer Johnston". The Irish Times, 1 March 2025.
  14. ^ O'Rourke, Evelyn. "President leads tributes to novelist Jennifer Johnston". RTÉ.ie.
  15. ^ "Martina Devlin interviews Jennifer Johnston". Libranwriter.wordpress.com. 5 November 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  16. ^ Michael Coveney, "Susan FitzGerald obituary", The Guardian, 10 September 2013.
  17. ^ Maureen Paton, "Tara Fitzgerald: Naked ambition" (profile), The Independent, 2 May 2003.
  18. ^ White, Jack (26 February 2025). "Writer Jennifer Johnston dies aged 95". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  19. ^ Parker, Peter (3 November 2002). "Review: Fiction: This Is Not a Novel by Jennifer Johnston". www.thetimes.com. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  20. ^ a b Creamer, Ella (26 February 2025). "Jennifer Johnston, celebrated Irish novelist and playwright, dies aged 95". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  21. ^ Housham, Jane (22 November 2008). "Foolish Mortals". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  22. ^ Lively, Penelope (19 December 2009). "Truth or Fiction by Jennifer Johnston". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  23. ^ Leavy, Adrienne (14 June 2017). "In praise of Jennifer Johnston". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  24. ^ Lively, Penelope (23 November 2013). "A Sixpenny Song by Jennifer Johnston – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  25. ^ "Naming the Stars by Jennifer Johnston". The Irish Times. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  26. ^ Leland, Review: Mary (12 November 2016). "Book review: Naming the Stars". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  27. ^ "Andante Un Poco Mosso". PlayographyIreland. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  28. ^ "The Invisible Man". PlayographyIreland. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  29. ^ "Triptych". PlayographyIreland. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  30. ^ "Twinkletoes". PlayographyIreland. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  31. ^ "The Desert Lullaby". PlayographyIreland. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  32. ^ a b He, Chu (2 January 2022). "Domestic traumas in two plays by Jennifer Johnston". Irish Studies Review. 30 (1): 82–97. doi:10.1080/09670882.2022.2034578. ISSN 0967-0882.
  33. ^ "Moonlight and Music". PlayographyIreland. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
  34. ^ "Waiting". PlayographyIreland. Retrieved 27 February 2025.