Short-story writer, novelist and playwright, Michael O'Donovan, under the pseudonym Frank
O'Connor, was born in Cork, Co Cork, Ireland. From a poor family, he worked as
a railway clerk and a librarian. Later, as a member
of the Irish Republican Army (1921-22), he was imprisoned during its civil
war. He gained instant fame with the publication of short stories Guests of
the Nation (1931). He went on to become director of the Abbey Theatre,
Dublin (1936-39); broadcaster for the Ministry of Information, London during
World War II; published writer of short stories in The New Yorker
(1945-61); and appointed visiting professor to Northwestern University,
Harvard University, and the University of Chicago (1952-60). He is best known,
mainly for collections of short stories, including The Wild Bird's Nest
(1932), Bones of Contention (1936), Crab Apple Jelly (1944), and
The Common Chord (1947). Also author of autobiographies, An Only
Child (1961), My Fathers' Son (1969); plays, In the Train
(1937), Time's Pocket (1939), The Statue's Daughter (1940).
etc.; translations of Gaelic literature, esp. Brian Merriman's The Midnight
Court (1945), included in Kings, Lords and Commons (1959); and
criticism, The Lonely Voice (1963), The Backward Look (1967).
__________
_____. "Frank O'Connor." Merriam
Webster's Biographical Dictionary.
_____. "Frank O'Connor." biography.com.
