Jennifer Johnston
Encyclopedia
Jennifer Johnston is an Irish
novel
ist, winner of the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1977. 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.
, to the Irish actor/director Shelah Richards and the playwright Denis Johnston
, a cousin of the late actress Geraldine Fitzgerald
, via Fitzgerald's mother, Edith. She was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and currently lives in Derry
, Northern Ireland
. 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 is a member of Aosdána
.
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...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
ist, winner of the Whitbread Book Award for The Old Jest in 1979, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1977. The Old Jest, a novel about the Irish War of Independence was later made into a film called The Dawning
The Dawning
The Dawning is a 1988 British film, based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, The Old Jest which depicts the Irish War of Independence through the eyes of the Anglo-Irish landlord class...
, starring Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
, produced by Sarah Lawson
Sarah Lawson (producer)
Sarah Lawson was an English film producer.-Career:From 1982 to 1985, she was Vice President of Planning and Development for DL Taffner Ltd, Los Angeles, and from 1995 to 1996 she was Managing Director of Anglia Television Entertainment Ltd - a joint venture between HBO and the ITV Company.She is...
and directed by Robert Knights.
Personal life
She 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...
, to the Irish actor/director Shelah Richards and the playwright Denis Johnston
Denis Johnston
Denis Johnston was an Irish writer. He wrote mostly plays, but also works of literary criticism, a book-length biographical essay of Jonathan Swift, a memoir and an eccentric work of philosophy. He also worked as a war correspondent, and as both a radio and television producer for the BBC...
, a cousin of the late actress Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Geraldine Fitzgerald, Lady Lindsay-Hogg was an Irish-American actress and a member of the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Early life:...
, via Fitzgerald's mother, Edith. She was educated at Trinity College Dublin, and currently lives in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
. She was born into the Church of Ireland
Church of Ireland
The Church of Ireland is an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. The church operates in all parts of Ireland and is the second largest religious body on the island after the Roman Catholic Church...
and many of her novels deal with the fading of the Protestant Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
ascendancy in the 20th century.
She is a member of Aosdána
Aosdána
Aosdána is an Irish association of Artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers and with support from the Arts Council of Ireland. Membership, which is by invitation from current members, is limited to 250 individuals; before 2005 it was limited to 200...
.
Novels
- The Captains and the Kings (1972) winner of the Author's Club First Novel AwardAuthor's Club First Novel AwardAuthors' Club Best First Novel Award is awarded by the Authors' Club to the most promising first novel of the year, written by a British author and published in the UK during the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is presented....
- The Gates (1973)
- How Many Miles to Babylon? (1974)
- Shadows on Our Skin (1977) shortlisted for the Booker Prize
- The Old JestThe DawningThe Dawning is a 1988 British film, based on Jennifer Johnston's novel, The Old Jest which depicts the Irish War of Independence through the eyes of the Anglo-Irish landlord class...
(1979), winner of a Whitbread Book Award for 1979 - The Christmas Tree (novel) (1981)
- The Railway Station ManThe Railway Station ManThe Railway Station Man is a 1992 British drama film directed by Michael Whyte and starring Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland and John Lynch. It was based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Irish writer Jennifer Johnston...
(1985) - Fool's Sanctuary (1988)
- The Invisible Worm (1992)
- The IllusionistThe Illusionist (novel)The Illusionist is a novel by Irish author Jennifer Johnston published in 1995 and considered one of her best works. It gained positive reviews in the Irish Times, Times Literary Supplement and the New Statesman.-Premise:...
(1995) - Finbar's Hotel, edited by Dermot BolgerDermot BolgerDermot Bolger is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet born in Finglas, a suburb of Dublin.His work is often concerned with the articulation of the experiences of working-class characters who, for various reasons, feel alienated from society. Bolger questions the relevance of traditional...
(1997) (Contributor) - Two Moons (1998)
- The Essential Jennifer Johnston (1999) (contains The Captains and the Kings, The Railway Station ManThe Railway Station ManThe Railway Station Man is a 1992 British drama film directed by Michael Whyte and starring Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland and John Lynch. It was based on the 1984 novel of the same name by Irish writer Jennifer Johnston...
, and Fool's Sanctuary) - Great Irish Stories of Murder and Mystery (2000) (Contributor)
- The Gingerbread Woman (2000)
- This is not a Novel (2002)
- Grace and TruthGrace and TruthGrace and Truth is a novel by Irish author Jennifer Johnston, first published in 2005 by Headline Books.-Plot introduction:On returning to her home in Goatstown, Dublin after a successful European stage tour, actress Sally is shocked when her husband Charlie announces he is leaving her...
(2005) - Foolish Mortals (2007)
- Truth or Fiction (2009)
Plays
- The Nightingale and Not the Lark (1981)
- Indian Summer (1983)
- Andante un Poco Mosso, in The Best Short Plays 1983, (1983)
- The Porch (1986)
- The Desert Lullaby: A Play in Two Acts (1996)