Emma Donoghue
Encyclopedia
Emma Donoghue is an Irish
-born playwright, literary historian and novelist now living in Canada
. Her 2010 novel Room
was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize
and an international bestseller. Donoghue's 1995 novel Hood
won the Stonewall Book Award
and Slammerkin (2000) won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction
. Her most recent collection of short stories
, Touchy Subjects was published in 2006.
, in 1969. The youngest of eight children, her father is the academic literary critic Denis Donoghue
. She has a first-class honours Bachelor of Arts
degree from University College Dublin
(in English and French) and a PhD
in English from the University of Cambridge
. Her thesis
was on friendship between men and women in 18th century fiction. While in Cambridge she lived in a women's co-op, an experience which inspired her short story "The Welcome" (collected in Touchy Subjects). In 1998 she moved to Canada
and became a Canadian citizen
in 2004. She lives in London, Ontario
with her partner and their two children.
novel about a young Irish woman discovering her sexuality. It was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award
in 1994. This was followed in 1995 by Hood
, another contemporary story, this time about an Irish woman coming to terms with the death of her girlfriend. Hood won the 1997 American Library Association
's Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Book Award for Literature (now known as the Stonewall Book Award
for Literature).
Slammerkin (2000) is a historical novel set in London
and Wales
. Inspired by an 18th century newspaper story about a young servant who killed her employer and was executed, the protagonist is a prostitute who longs for fine clothes. It was a finalist in the 2001 Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction and was awarded the 2002 Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction (despite a lack of lesbian content). Her 2007 novel, Landing, portrays a long-distance relationship between a Canadian curator and an Irish flight attendant. The Sealed Letter (2008), Donoghue's latest work of historical fiction, is based on the Codrington Affair, a scandalous divorce case that gripped Britain in 1864. The Sealed Letter was longlisted for the Giller Prize, and was joint winner of the 2009 Lambda Literary Award
for Lesbian Fiction.
On July 27, 2010, Donoghue's novel Room
was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
and on September 7, 2010 it made the shortlist. On November 2, 2010, it was announced that Donoghue's Room
had been awarded the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
. Room
is also shortlisted for the 2010 Governor General's Awards
in Canada and was the winner of the Irish Book Award
2010. It was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011. but lost out to Tea Obreht
Speaking at the Lesbian Lives Conference in Brighton on Sunday 13 February 2011, Donoghue revealed that her next novel would be a historical fiction based on the true story of a murdered 19th century cross-dressing frog catcher.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
-born playwright, literary historian and novelist now living in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Her 2010 novel Room
Room (novel)
Room is a 2010 novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother...
was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
and an international bestseller. Donoghue's 1995 novel Hood
Hood (novel)
Hood is a novel written by Irish author Emma Donoghue in 1995. The book was the recipient of the 1997 Stonewall Book Award and is heavily influenced by James Joyce's Ulysses....
won the Stonewall Book Award
Stonewall Book Award
Sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association , the Stonewall Book Award is for LGBT books...
and Slammerkin (2000) won the Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction
Lesbian fiction
Lesbian fiction is a subgenre of fiction that involves one or more primary female homosexual character and lesbian themes. Novels that fall into this category may be of any genres, such as, but not limited to, historical fiction, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and romance.-History:The first...
. Her most recent collection of short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
, Touchy Subjects was published in 2006.
Biography
Emma Donoghue was born in Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, in 1969. The youngest of eight children, her father is the academic literary critic Denis Donoghue
Denis Donoghue
Denis Donoghue is an Irish literary critic. He is currently the Henry James Chair of English and American Letters at New York University....
. She has a first-class honours Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree from University College Dublin
University College Dublin
University College Dublin ) - formally known as University College Dublin - National University of Ireland, Dublin is the Republic of Ireland's largest, and Ireland's second largest, university, with over 1,300 faculty and 17,000 students...
(in English and French) and a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in English from the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
. Her thesis
Thesis
A dissertation or thesis is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings...
was on friendship between men and women in 18th century fiction. While in Cambridge she lived in a women's co-op, an experience which inspired her short story "The Welcome" (collected in Touchy Subjects). In 1998 she moved to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and became a Canadian citizen
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
in 2004. She lives in London, Ontario
London, Ontario
London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
with her partner and their two children.
Work
Donoghue's first novel was 1994's Stir Fry, a contemporary coming of ageComing of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
novel about a young Irish woman discovering her sexuality. It was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
in 1994. This was followed in 1995 by Hood
Hood (novel)
Hood is a novel written by Irish author Emma Donoghue in 1995. The book was the recipient of the 1997 Stonewall Book Award and is heavily influenced by James Joyce's Ulysses....
, another contemporary story, this time about an Irish woman coming to terms with the death of her girlfriend. Hood won the 1997 American Library Association
American Library Association
The American Library Association is a non-profit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with more than 62,000 members....
's Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Book Award for Literature (now known as the Stonewall Book Award
Stonewall Book Award
Sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Round Table of the American Library Association , the Stonewall Book Award is for LGBT books...
for Literature).
Slammerkin (2000) is a historical novel set in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Inspired by an 18th century newspaper story about a young servant who killed her employer and was executed, the protagonist is a prostitute who longs for fine clothes. It was a finalist in the 2001 Irish Times Irish Literature Prize for Fiction and was awarded the 2002 Ferro-Grumley Award for Lesbian Fiction (despite a lack of lesbian content). Her 2007 novel, Landing, portrays a long-distance relationship between a Canadian curator and an Irish flight attendant. The Sealed Letter (2008), Donoghue's latest work of historical fiction, is based on the Codrington Affair, a scandalous divorce case that gripped Britain in 1864. The Sealed Letter was longlisted for the Giller Prize, and was joint winner of the 2009 Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Award
Lambda Literary Awards are awarded yearly by the US-based Lambda Literary Foundation to published works which celebrate or explore LGBT themes. Categories include Humor, Romance and Biography. To qualify, a book must have been published in the United States in the year current to the award...
for Lesbian Fiction.
On July 27, 2010, Donoghue's novel Room
Room (novel)
Room is a 2010 novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother...
was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length novel, written in the English language, by a citizen of the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. The winner of the Man Booker Prize is generally assured of international renown and...
and on September 7, 2010 it made the shortlist. On November 2, 2010, it was announced that Donoghue's Room
Room (novel)
Room is a 2010 novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother...
had been awarded the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize is a Canadian literary award presented by Rogers Communications and the Writers' Trust of Canada after an annual juried competition between publishers who submit entries....
. Room
Room (novel)
Room is a 2010 novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother...
is also shortlisted for the 2010 Governor General's Awards
2010 Governor General's Awards
The shortlisted nominees for the 2010 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit were announced on October 13, and winning titles were announced on November 16...
in Canada and was the winner of the Irish Book Award
Irish Book Awards
The Irish Book Awards is an annual Irish literary award given to books and authors in various categories. It is the only literary award supported by all-Irish bookstores. First awarded in 2006, they grew out of the Hughes & Hughes bookstore's Irish Novel of the Year Prize which was inaugurated in...
2010. It was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction 2011. but lost out to Tea Obreht
Téa Obreht
Téa Obreht is an American novelist of Bosniak/Slovene descent, born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, now Serbia...
Speaking at the Lesbian Lives Conference in Brighton on Sunday 13 February 2011, Donoghue revealed that her next novel would be a historical fiction based on the true story of a murdered 19th century cross-dressing frog catcher.
Novels
- Stir Fry (1994)
- HoodHood (novel)Hood is a novel written by Irish author Emma Donoghue in 1995. The book was the recipient of the 1997 Stonewall Book Award and is heavily influenced by James Joyce's Ulysses....
(1995) - Slammerkin (2000)
- Life Mask (2004)
- Landing (2007)
- The Sealed Letter (2008)
- RoomRoom (novel)Room is a 2010 novel by Irish-Canadian author Emma Donoghue. The story is told from the perspective of a five-year-boy, Jack, who is being held captive in a small room along with his mother...
(2010)
Short stories
- "Dear Lang" (2009) in How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of IdentityHow Beautiful the OrdinaryHow Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity is an anthology of LGBTQ short stories for young adults edited by American author Michael Cart. It was first published in 2009...
(ed. Michael Chart)
Short story collections
- Kissing the Witch (1997)
- The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits (2002)
- Touchy Subjects (2006)
Drama (Stage)
- I Know My Own Heart (1993) (published 2001)
- Ladies and Gentlemen (1996) (published 1998)
- Don't Die Wondering (2005)
- Kissing The Witch (2000)
Drama (Radio)
- Trespasses (1996)
- Don't Die Wondering (2000)
- Exes (2001)
- Humans and Other Animals (2003)
- Mix (2003)
Literary History
- Passions Between Women: British Lesbian Culture 1668-1801 (1993)
- We Are Michael FieldMichael Field (author)Michael Field was a pseudonym used for the poetry and verse drama of Katherine Harris Bradley and her niece and ward Edith Emma Cooper . As Field they wrote around 40 works together, and a long journal Works and Days...
(1998) - Inseparable: Desire Between Women in Literature (2010)
Works edited
- What Sappho Would Have Said (1997)
- The Mammoth Book Of Lesbian Short Stories (1999)
Further reading
- Irish Writers on Writing featuring Emma Donoghue. Edited by Eavan BolandEavan Boland-Biography:Boland's father, Frederick Boland, was a career diplomat and her mother, Frances Kelly, was a noted post-expressionist painter. She was born in Dublin in 1944. At the age of six, Boland's father was appointed Irish Ambassador to the United Kingdom; the family followed him to London,...
(Trinity University Press, 2007).