Jennifer Johnston

Heather Ingman (Trinity College Dublin)

Ed. by Anne Markey, Dublin City University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.4: Irish Writing and Culture, 400-present.
Vol. editors: Anne Markey (Dublin City University), Ian Campbell Ross (Trinity College Dublin), Eoghan Smith (Carlow College), Sinéad Sturgeon (Queen's University Belfast)

Dates

Born 12 Jan 1930
Activity 1974-ongoing

Places

Born in Ireland, Republic of (Eire)
Active in Ireland, Republic of (Eire); United Kingdom

Activities

Primary

Novelist

Resources

Johnston's Works

Save to Bookshelf

From the start, Jennifer Johnston’s deceptively slight novels aroused controversy about where to place her work in the Irish literary canon. An early article by Christine St Peter defended her against accusations by critics such as Mark Mortimer and Seamus Deane that her work was limited in scope (St Peter, 1991). Rüdiger Imhof, reviewing

The Invisible Worm

, summarised Johnston’s novels as “fraught with artistic shortcomings” (

Linen Hall Review

April 1991, 28). Yet many contemporary Irish authors have testified to Johnston’s influence on their writing and, in 2004, at the Joyce celebrations in New York, Roddy Doyle provocatively declared: “She is the greatest Irish writer. She writes perfect books” (

Sunday Tribune

, 8 February 2004, 3). Popular with the general reader but…

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4909 words

Citation: Ingman, Heather. "Jennifer Johnston". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 December 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2390, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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