UCC’s School of English and Digital Humanities has announced the appointment of John Banville as Visiting Professor of Creative Writing for this year.
The internationally-renowned writer will join the Creative Writing team in the School of English and Digital Humanities, where he will contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in Creative Writing.
He will also give two public readings. John Banville’s appointment is supported by an anonymous philanthropic donation to UCC.
Professor Lee M. Jenkins, Head of the School of English and Digital Humanities, said his appointment "gives our students an unparalleled opportunity to learn from a master craftsman of the novel".
"The philanthropic gift that enables his Visiting Professorship will be critical in advancing Creative Writing at UCC and in enhancing UCC’s connections to creative communities in Cork city."
Banville is the author of numerous novels, including the acclaimed ‘Frames’ and ‘Revolutions’ trilogies, and The Sea, which won the Man Booker Prize in 2005.
His most recent novel, a continuation of Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady, is Mrs Osmond (2017).
Under the pen name of Benjamin Black, the Wexford native also writes detective fiction, including the Quirke series, the first three books of which were televised by the BBC, and The Black-Eyed Blonde, a Philip Marlowe novel commissioned by the Raymond Chandler Estate.
His many accolades include the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Franz Kafka Prize, the Austrian State Prize for European Literature, the Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, and the Ordine della Stella d’Italia.