“I have been very lucky to have met and spent time with some incredible heroes such as Alan Ginsberg, Marlon Brando and various literary heroes. Writers such as J.P. Donleavy do not come around often at all. What he has done with his work – these sombre darkly comic gems, lyrical beauty probes – is very, very rare. J.P. Donleavy is a master of his craft.”
“His work will be lauded in the hearts of minds of young rebels for generations to come.” These are the words of Hollywood actor, Johnny Depp, who via video link, praised his Mullingar-based friend, J.P. Donleavy, recipient of the the 2015 Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement award.
Now in his 90th year, Donleavy received the award for his contribution to Irish writing, at the prestigious 2015 Irish Book Awards, which took place at the Doubletree Hilton Hotel, Dublin, last Wednesday night, 25 November. In receiving the honorary awards, Donleavy joins the likes of past recipients, John McGahren, Edna O’Brien, Maeve Binchy and Séamus Heaney.
Along with Johnny Depp, other contributions via video message included singer, Bob Geldof, who described Mr Donleavy as “one of the great Irish writers” while actor Simon Callow described his as “one of the most brilliant men of words of our time.”
Presenting the award to Donleavy, author Donal Ryan spoke of the difficult path writers in his field go through to achieve true success, citing Donleavy’s ‘The Ginger Man’ as an example.
“There are five things writers secretly want their books to be: burned, banned, adored, immortal and multi-million selling. All of these can be attached to the work of JP Donleavy!”
Banned in Ireland until 1968, ‘The Ginger Man’ went on to become a classic, cited as one of the best 100 novels of the twentieth century.
It is claimed that the book brings more tourists to Dublin’s Trinity College (where it was set) than the Book of Kells.
“He has given us a glorious body of works of fiction, drama and philosophy, all composed with a meticulously considered recklessness. He is the Jimi Hendrix of literature,” said Ryan.
Accepting his award to a standing ovation and instead of a speech, Donleavy read a passage from his ‘The Unexpurgated Code: A Complete Manual of Survival & Manners’, much to the humour of attendees.
NIALL BRESLIN
Along with Mr Donleavy, Mullingar musician and mental health activist, Niall ‘Bressie’ Breslin received recognition at the awards ceremony, picking up the award for Popular Non-fiction Book of the Year for his book, ‘Me and My Mate Jeffrey’, in which which he speaks openly about living with depression and anxiety.
“For me, to write this book and give it to my family was very, very difficult. It’s not something you want to have to do too often in your life. It wasn’t easy for them to read this, but it had to be talked about.”
In his post-award acceptance interview with RTÉ, Breslin spoke of his challenge in writing the book. “It was a hard thing to do. Some people will say gathering a book is quite therapeutic.
Ultimately, writing was hard. When I finished writing it, it was huge pay-off for me personally. It was like I got everything out of my head and into a book, and I could leave it and go on with the rest of my life.”
