Citizendia

John Banville

Born 8 December 1945 (1945-12-08) (age 62)
Wexford, Ireland
Pen name Benjamin Black
Occupation novelist, playwright, journalist
Nationality Irish
Notable work(s) The Book of Evidence, The Untouchable
Influences

John Banville is an acclaimed Irish novelist and journalist. Events 1609 - Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room the second public library of Europe. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar Wexford (derived from Old Norse Veisafjǫrðr (in some sources spelled "Waes Fiord" – veisa meaning "mudflat stagnant pool" Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a Pseudonym adopted by an Author or their publishers to conceal their identity Employment is a Contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is a person who writes dramatic literature or Drama. A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends Nationality is a relationship between a Person and their State of Origin, Culture, association Affiliation and/or Loyalty The Irish people ( Irish: Muintir na hÉireann, na hÉireannaigh, na Gaeil) are a Western European Ethnic group who originate The Book of Evidence is a 1989 novel by the Irish author John Banville. The Untouchable is a 1997 novel by the Irish author John Banville. Martin Heidegger ( September 26, 1889 &ndash May 26, 1976) (ˈmaɐ̯tiːn ˈhaɪ̯dɛgɐ was an influential German philosopher This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. Samuel Barclay Beckett (13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989 was an Irish Writer, Dramatist and poet Henry James, OM ( –) son of theologian Henry James Sr, brother of the philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices Journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events trends His novel, The Book of Evidence (1989), was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and won the Guinness Peat Aviation award. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story The Book of Evidence is a 1989 novel by the Irish author John Banville. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known in short as the Booker Prize, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length Novel Guinness Peat Aviation (GPA was a Commercial Aircraft Sales and Leasing company set up in 1975 by Aer Lingus, the Guinness Peat Group (a London His eighteenth novel, The Sea, won the Man Booker Prize in 2005. The Sea (2005 is the eighteenth novel by Irish author John Banville. The Man Booker Prize for Fiction, also known in short as the Booker Prize, is a literary prize awarded each year for the best original full-length Novel He sometimes writes in the name of Benjamin Black.

Banville is known for his precise and cold prose style, Nabokovian inventiveness, and for the dark humour of his generally arch narrators. This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. His stated ambition is to give his prose: "the kind of denseness and thickness that poetry has". [1]

Contents

Biography

Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland. Wexford (derived from Old Norse Veisafjǫrðr (in some sources spelled "Waes Fiord" – veisa meaning "mudflat stagnant pool" Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world His father worked in a garage and died when John was in his early thirties; his mother was a housewife. Banville is the youngest of three siblings; his older brother Vincent is also a novelist and has written under the name Vincent Lawrence as well as his own. Educated at a Christian Brothers' school and at St Peter's College in Wexford, he did not attend university. After school he worked as a clerk at Aer Lingus which allowed him to travel at deeply-discounted rates. Aer Lingus is the Flag carrier airline of Ireland. Based at Dublin Airport, it operates 41 Airbus aircraft serving Europe Africa and North He took advantage of this to travel in Greece and Italy. He lived in the United States between 1968-9. On his return to Ireland he became a sub-editor at the Irish Press, rising eventually to the position of chief sub-editor. The Irish Press was an Irish Newspaper published by Irish Press plc between September 5 1931, on the eve of the 1931 Kilkenny v Cork His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970.

After the Irish Press collapsed in 1995,[2] he became a sub-editor at the Irish Times. The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet news paper launched in the late 1850s. He was appointed literary editor in 1998. The Irish Times, too, suffered severe financial problems, and Banville was offered the choice of taking a redundancy package or working as a features department sub-editor. He left. Banville has been a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books since 1990. The New York Review of Books (or NYREV or NYRB) is a semimonthly Magazine on Literature, Culture, and current In 1984, he was elected to Aosdána, but resigned in 2001,[3] so that some other artist might be allowed to receive the cnuas.

Banville also writes under the pen name Benjamin Black. [4] His first novel under this pen name was Christine Falls, which was followed by The Silver Swan in 2007. Banville has two adult sons with his wife, the American textile artist Janet Dunham. They met during his visit to San Francisco in 1968 where she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. The University of California Berkeley (also referred to as Cal, Berkeley and UC Berkeley) is a major research university located in Berkeley Dunham described him during the writing process as being like "a murderer who's just come back from a particularly bloody killing". [5] Banville has two daughters from his relationship with Patricia Quinn, former head of the Arts Council of Ireland. The Arts Council of Ireland, or An Chomhairle Ealaíon in Irish, was founded in 1951 by the Government of Ireland to encourage interest in Irish art

Style

Banville is considered by critics as a master stylist of the English language, and his writing has been described as perfectly-crafted, beautiful, dazzling. [6] David Mehegan of the Boston Globe calls Banville "one of the great stylists writing in English today;" Don DeLillo calls his work "dangerous and clear-running prose;" and the UK Observer described his 1989 work, The Book of Evidence, as "flawlessly flowing prose whose lyricism, patrician irony and aching sense of loss are reminiscent of Lolita. Don DeLillo (born November 20 1936 is an American author best known for his Novels which paint detailed portraits of American life in the late 20th and early 21st centuries The Observer is a British Newspaper published on Sundays In about the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Lolita (1955 is a Novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author " He is also known for his dark humour, and sharp wit. [7]

Awards

Year Prize For
1976 James Tait Black Memorial Prize Doctor Copernicus
1981 Guardian Fiction Prize Kepler
Allied Irish Bank Fiction Prize
American-Irish Foundation Award Birchwood
1989 Guinness Peat Aviation Award The Book of Evidence
1989 Booker Prize (shortlisted) The Book of Evidence
2005 Booker Prize The Sea
2006 Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year The Sea

Works

Novels

Plays

As "Benjamin Black"

Notes

  1. ^ Steinberg, Sybil. "Who Is John Banville?". Publishers Weekly, July, 1995. Retrieved on 21 January 2007. Events 1189 - Philip II of France and Richard I of England begin to assemble troops to wage the Third Crusade. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  2. ^ "The day the Press stopped rolling". Western People (IRL), 25 May 2005. Events 1085 - Alfonso VI of Castile takes Toledo Spain back from the Moors. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 27 October 2007. Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  3. ^ "Former Members of Aosdána". Aosdána. Retrieved on 27 October 2007. Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  4. ^ From a Radio 4 programme on 15th October 2007 in which Banville was interviewed.
  5. ^ Brockes, Emma. "14th time lucky". The Guardian, 12 October 2005. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Retrieved on 27 October 2007. Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  6. ^ "Shroud". Random House, 2004. Retrieved on 27 October 2007. Events 312 - Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  7. ^ "John Banville (1945-)". Guardian (UK). Retrieved on 19 October 2007. Events 202 BCE - The Battle of Zama results in the defeat of Carthage and Hannibal. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.

Television

RTÉ FACTUAL: An in-depth look at the life of John Banville, one of Ireland's most renowned writers. Director Charlie McCarthy profiles one of our most critically esteemed and bestselling novelists.

Further reading

External links

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