Irish Writers Online / Author
Joseph O'Connor
Joseph O’Connor 
His first novel, Cowboys and Indians (London, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1991),
was shortlisted for The
Whitbread Prize. This was followed by a volume of short stories, True
Believers (Sinclair–Stevenson, 1991), and the novels Desperadoes
(Flamingo, 1993); The Salesman (London, Secker &
Warburg, 1998); Inishowen (Secker & Warburg, 2000);
Star of the Sea
In 1994, he published a collection of comic essays, The Secret
World Of The Irish Male (Dublin, New Island Books), which became a best
seller in Ireland. His other non-fiction includes Even the Olives are
Bleeding: The Life and Times of Charles Donnelly (Dublin, New Island Books,
1993);
The Irish Male at Home and Abroad (Dublin, New Island Books, 1996); and
Sweet Liberty:
Travels in Irish America (London, Picador 1996).
His stage plays are
Red Roses and Petrol (Dublin, Project Arts Centre, and nationwide tour,
followed by Tricycle Theatre London, 1995 - published London,
Metheun Drama, 1995); The Weeping of Angels (Dublin, Gate Theatre,
1997); and True Believers (Dublin, Fishamble Theatre Company, Andrews Lane Theatre).
His screenplays include A Stone of the Heart; The Long Way Home; and
Ailsa.
Among his awards are The Sunday Tribune/Hennessy First Fiction and
New Irish Writer of the Year Awards (1989), the Macauley Fellowship
(1994), the Miramax Screenwriting Award (1995) the In Dublin Magazine
Award for Best New Irish Play (1995); and a Fellowship to the New York Public Library's Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers for 2005-2006.
Star of the Sea, which was published in 26 languages, received the Prix Littéraire Européan Madeleine Zepter for European Novel of the Year.
He lives in Dublin.
