Professor Brendan Kennelly Wins 2010 Irish PEN Award

Posted on: 01 February 2010

Professor Brendan Kennelly, Fellow Emeritus and former Professor of Modern Literature at the School of English, was presented with the 2010 Irish PEN Award for Contribution to Irish Literature by Senator David Norris recently.  The award, which is open to poets, playwrights, novelists and scriptwriters, honours Irish writers who have written and produced significant bodies of works over a number of years.

With over 30 publications to his name and a career that has spanned 40 years, Professor Kennelly’s work includes both prose and verse.  Poet, personality, raconteur and professor, some of Kennelly’s most famous works include Cromwell (1983/87), Poetry me Arse (1995) and more recently Reservoir Voices (2009).   

The Irish PEN Award for Contribution to Irish Literature was set up in 1998 to honour Irish born writers’ achievements.  Members of the Irish PEN along with previous winners of the award nominate and vote for the candidate.  Previous winners of the award include William Trevor (2002), Seamus Heaney (2005) and Maeve Binchy (2007).