Writer Jordan inducted into literary hall of fame

Oscar-winning writer Neil Jordan was a man of relatively few words today as he was awarded his latest prestigious literary honour.

The Sligo-born author was inducted into the Hennessy XO Literary Hall of Fame, following in the footsteps of other esteemed writers including Anne Enright, Joseph O’Connor, Colum McCann, Frank McGuinness and Pat McCabe.

But Jordan, whose films have been honoured with Baftas and Golden Globes, appeared a little reticent about his latest claim to fame, preferring perhaps to keep his thoughts for the acceptance speech.

“It’s lovely, it’s great. They are very good awards, they’ve been around for a long, long time,” the 60-year-old writer said.

“It’s a great honour.”

The Hennessy awards have been running for 39 years and celebrate the talent of undiscovered writers and poets, giving them an opportunity to share their work with a wider audience.

Awards director Ciaran Carty, who was to present Jordan with the honour at a ceremony in Trinity College Dublin, said his talents had merged the literary and cinematic worlds.

“He’s incredible in the sense that he’s operating in two worlds, literature and cinema,” Mr Carty said.

“He’s managed to do the two of them and one feeds into another. It means that his films are enriched by his literary imagination and his literature is enriched by his visual cinematic imagination. Quite unique really.”

Born in Sligo in 1950, Jordan began his career as a writer and has published five novels, including The Past (1979), The Dream Of A Beast (1983), Sunrise With Sea Monster (1994) and most recently Shade (2005).

He has written, directed and produced a large number of critically-acclaimed films, including The Crying Game, which clinched him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

His credits also include Interview With The Vampire (1994), Michael Collins (1996), Butcher Boy (1997) and Breakfast On Pluto (2005).