William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), known by his pen name William Trevor, was an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary writers of short stories in the English language. Trevor won the

Whitbread Prize The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

three times and was nominated five times for the Booker Prize, the last for his novel ''

Love and Summer ''Love and Summer'' is a 2009 novel written by William Trevor. It was long-listed for the Booker prize. The story takes place in the fictitious town of Rathmoye in Ireland during the 1950s. It concerns the illicit love between a photographer and ...

'' (2009), which was also shortlisted for the

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

in 2011. His name was also mentioned in relation to the Nobel Prize in Literature. He won the 2008 International Nonino Prize in Italy. In 2014, Trevor was bestowed

Saoi Saoi (, plural ''Saoithe''; literally "wise one"; historically the title of the head of a bardic school) is the highest honour bestowed by Aosdána, a state-supported association of Irish creative artists. The title is awarded, for life, to an exis ...

by the

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

. Trevor resided in England from 1954 until his death at the age of 88.

Biography

Trevor was born as William Trevor Cox in

Mitchelstown Mitchelstown () is a town in County Cork, Ireland with a population of approximately 3,740. Mitchelstown is situated in the valley to the south of the Galtee Mountains, 12 km south-west of the Mitchelstown Caves, 28 km from Cahir, 50 ...

County Cork County Cork ( ga, Contae Chorcaí) is the largest and the southernmost county of Ireland, named after the city of Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the province of Munster and the Southern Region. Its largest market towns a ...

, Ireland, to a middle-class, Anglo-Irish

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

(

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

) family. He moved several times to other provincial towns, including

Skibbereen Skibbereen (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It is located in West Cork on the N71 national secondary road. The name "Skibbereen" (sometimes shortened to "Skibb") means "little boat harbour". The River Ilen runs through the town; it reac ...

Tipperary Tipperary is the name of: Places *County Tipperary, a county in Ireland **North Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Nenagh **South Tipperary, a former administrative county based in Clonmel *Tipperary (town), County Tipperary's na ...

Youghal Youghal ( ; ) is a seaside resort town in County Cork, Ireland. Located on the estuary of the River Blackwater, the town is a former military and economic centre. Located on the edge of a steep riverbank, the town has a long and narrow layout. ...

and

Enniscorthy Enniscorthy () is the second-largest town in County Wexford, Ireland. At the 2016 census, the population of the town and environs was 11,381. The town is located on the picturesque River Slaney and in close proximity to the Blackstairs Mountain ...

, as a result of his father's work as a bank official. He was educated at St. Columba's College in Dublin, and at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, from which he received a degree in history. Trevor worked as a sculptor under the name Trevor Cox after his graduation from Trinity College, supplementing his income by teaching. He married Jane Ryan in 1952 and emigrated to Great Britain two years later, working as a copywriter for an advertising agency. It was during this time that he and his wife had their first son. His first novel, ''A Standard of Behaviour'', was published in 1958 (by Hutchinson of London), but received little critical success. He later disowned this work, and, according to his obituary in the ''

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'', "refused to have it republished". It was in fact republished in 1982 and in 1989. In 1964, at the age of 36, Trevor was awarded the Hawthornden Prize for Literature for ''The Old Boys''. This success encouraged Trevor to become a full-time writer. In 1971, he and his family moved from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

, first to Dunkeswell, then in 1980 to Shobrooke, where he lived until his death. Despite having spent most of his life in England, he considered himself to be "Irish in every vein". William Trevor died peacefully in his sleep on 20 November 2016. He was 88 years old.

Works and themes

He wrote several collections of short stories that were well received. His short stories often follow a

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

ian pattern. The characters in Trevor's work are typically marginalized members of society: children, the elderly, single middle-aged men and women, or the unhappily married. Those who cannot accept the reality of their lives create their own alternative worlds into which they retreat. A number of the stories use Gothic elements to explore the nature of evil and its connection to madness. Trevor acknowledged the influence of

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

on his short-story writing, and "the odour of ashpits and old weeds and offal" can be detected in his work, but the overall impression is not of gloominess, since, particularly in his early work, the author's wry humour offers the reader a tragicomic version of the world. He adapted much of his work for stage, television and radio. In 1990, '' Fools of Fortune'' was made into a film directed by Pat O'Connor, followed by a 1999 film adaptation of '' Felicia's Journey'', which was directed by Atom Egoyan. Trevor set his stories in both England and Ireland; they range from black comedies to tales based on Irish history and politics. A common theme is the tension between

(usually

) landowners and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

tenants. His early books are peopled by eccentrics who speak in a pedantically formal manner and engage in hilariously comic activities that are recounted by a detached narrative voice. Instead of one central figure, the novels feature several protagonists of equal importance, drawn together by an institutional setting, which acts as a convergence point for their individual stories. The later novels are thematically and technically more complex. The operation of

grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninco ...

in the world is explored, and several narrative voices are used to view the same events from different angles.

Unreliable narrator An unreliable narrator is a narrator whose credibility is compromised. They can be found in fiction and film, and range from children to mature characters. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in ''The Rhetoric of Fiction''. While unr ...

s and different perspectives reflect the fragmentation and uncertainty of modern life. Trevor also explored the decaying institution of the "Big House" in his novels ''Fools of Fortune'' and ''

The Story of Lucy Gault ''The Story of Lucy Gault'' is a novel written by William Trevor in 2002. The book is divided into three sections: the childhood, middle age and older times of the girl, Lucy. The story takes place in Ireland during the transition to the 21st cent ...

''.

Awards and honours

Trevor was a member of the

Irish Academy of Letters Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

. He was awarded an honorary CBE in 1977 for "services to literature", and was made a Companion of Literature in 1994. In 2002 he received an honorary KBE in recognition of his services to literature. He won the 2008 International Nonino Prize in Italy. Trevor was nominated for the Booker Prize five times, making the shortlist in 1970, 1976, 1991 and 2002, and the longlist in 2009. He won the

three times and the Hawthornden Prize for Literature once. Since 2002, when non-American authors became eligible to compete for the

O. Henry Award The O. Henry Award is an annual American award given to short stories of exceptional merit. The award is named after the American short-story writer O. Henry. The ''PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories'' is an annual collection of the year's twenty best ...

, Trevor won the award four times, for his stories ''Sacred Statues'' (2002), ''The Dressmaker's Child'' (2006), ''The Room'' (2007), a juror favourite of that year, and ''Folie à Deux'' (2008). Trevor was shortlisted for the

in 2011.

Recognition

* 1965: Hawthornden Prize for Literature for '' The Old Boys'' * 1970: '' Mrs. Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize * 1975: Royal Society of Literature for ''Angels at the Ritz and Other Stories'' * 1976:

Whitbread Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

for '' The Children of Dynmouth'' ** Allied Irish Banks Prize for fiction ** Heinemann Award for Fiction ** Shortlisted for the Booker Prize * 1980:

Giles Cooper Award The Giles Cooper Awards were honours given to plays written for BBC Radio. Sponsored by the BBC and Methuen Drama, the awards were specifically focused on the script of the best radio drama produced in the past year. Five or six winners were chos ...

for ''Beyond the Pale'' * 1982: Giles Cooper Award for ''Autumn Sunshine'' * 1982:

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for TV adaptation of ''The Ballroom of Romance'' * 1983:

for ''Fools of Fortune '' * 1991: ''Reading Turgenev'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize * 1994:

Best Novel for '' Felicia's Journey'' * 1999:

David Cohen Prize The David Cohen Prize for Literature (est. 1993) is a British literary award given to a writer, novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist or dramatist in recognition of an entire body of work, written in the English language. The prize is funde ...

by the

Arts Council of England The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

in recognition of his work. * 2001: Irish Literature Prize * 2002:

Irish PEN Award Irish PEN Award for Literature is an annual literary award presented by Irish PEN since 1999. Its intent is to honour an Irish-born writer who has made an outstanding contribution to Irish literature. The award is for a significant body of work an ...

br>The Man Booker Prize 1970
* 2002: ''

'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and the

* 2003:

Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award The Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award is an annual award for Irish authors of fiction, established in 1995. It was previously known as the Kerry Ingredients Book of the Year Award (1995–2000), the Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Award ...

at the

Listowel Listowel ( ; , IPA: �lʲɪsˠˈt̪ˠuəhəlʲ is a heritage market town in County Kerry, Ireland. It is on the River Feale, from the county town, Tralee. The town of Listowel had a population of 4,820 according to the CSO Census 2016. Desc ...

Writers' Week * 2008: Bob Hughes Lifetime Achievement Award in Irish Literature

Legacies

A monument to William Trevor was unveiled in Trevor's native

on 25 August 2004. It is a bronze sculpture by Liam Lavery and Eithne Ring in the form of a lectern, with an open book incorporating an image of the writer and a quotation, as well as the titles of his three

-winning works, and two others of significance. On 23 May 2008, the eve of his 80th birthday, a commemorative plaque, indicating the house on Upper Cork Street, Mitchelstown where Trevor was born, was unveiled by Louis McRedmond.

Bibliography

Novels and novellas

* '' A Standard of Behaviour'' (Hutchinson, 1958) * '' The Old Boys'' (

Bodley Head The Bodley Head is an English publishing house, founded in 1887 and existing as an independent entity until the 1970s. The name was used as an imprint of Random House Children's Books from 1987 to 2008. In April 2008, it was revived as an adul ...

, 1964) * ''The Boarding House'' (Bodley Head, 1965) * '' The Love Department'' (Bodley Head, 1966) * '' Mrs Eckdorf in O'Neill's Hotel'' (Bodley Head, 1969) * '' Miss Gomez and the Brethren'' (Bodley Head, 1971) * '' Elizabeth Alone'' (Bodley Head, 1973) * '' The Children of Dynmouth'' (Bodley Head, 1976) * '' The Distant Past'' (Poolbeg Press, 1979) * ''

Other People's Worlds William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016), known by his pen name William Trevor, was an Irish people, Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded ...

'' (Bodley Head, 1980) * '' Fools of Fortune'' (Bodley Head, 1983) * '' Nights at the Alexandra'' (Hutchinson, 1987) * '' The Silence in the Garden'' (Bodley Head, 1988) * '' Two Lives'' (the two novellas ''Reading Turgenev'' and ''My House in Umbria'') (

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...

, 1991) * '' Felicia's Journey'' (Viking, 1994) * '' Death in Summer'' (Viking, 1998) * ''

'' (Viking, 2002) * ''

'' (Viking, 2009) * ''

The Dressmaker's Child ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (Penguin Books)

Short story collections

* ''The Day We Got Drunk on Cake and Other Stories'' (Bodley Head, 1967) * ''The Ballroom of Romance and Other Stories'' (Bodley Head, 1972) * ''The Last Lunch of the Season'' (Covent Garden Press, 1973) * ''Angels at the Ritz and Other Stories'' (Bodley Head, 1975) * ''Lovers of their Time'' (Bodley Head, 1978) * ''Beyond the Pale'' (Bodley Head, 1981) * ''The Stories of William Trevor'' ( Penguin, 1983) * ''The News from Ireland and Other Stories'' (Bodley Head, 1986) * ''Family Sins and Other Stories'' (Bodley Head, 1989) * ''Outside Ireland: Selected Stories'' (Viking, 1992) * ''The Collected Stories'' (Viking, 1992; Penguin, 1993, 2003) * ''After Rain'' (Viking, 1996) * ''Cocktails at Doney's'' ( Bloomsbury Classics, 1996) * ''The Hill Bachelors'' (Viking, 2000) * '' A Bit On the Side'' (Viking, 2004) * ''Cheating at Canasta'' (Viking, 2007) * ''Bodily Secrets'' ( Penguin Great Loves, 2007; new selection of stories from earlier collections) * ''The Collected Stories'' (Viking, 2009) . * ''Selected Stories'' (Viking, 2010), listed as "the second volume of his collected stories" . * ''Last Stories'' (Viking, 2018)

Short fiction

Drama

* '' Out of the Unknown'': "Walk's End" (1966) * '' Play for Today: O Fat White Woman'' (1971,''Play for Today: O Fat White Woman''
BFI Film and TV Database adaptation from short story) * ''The Old Boys'' (Davis-Poynter, 1971) * ''A Night with Mrs da Tanka'' (

Samuel French Samuel French (1821–1898) was an American entrepreneur who, together with British actor, playwright and theatrical manager Thomas Hailes Lacy, pioneered in the field of theatrical publishing and the licensing of plays. Biography French foun ...

, 1972) * ''Going Home'' (Samuel French, 1972) * ''Marriages'' (Samuel French, 1973) * ''The Ballroom of Romance'' (Pat O’Connor, 1982) * ''Going Home'' (Samuel French, 1972)

Children's books

* ''Juliet's Story'' (The O'Brien Press, Dublin, 1991) * ''Juliet's Story'' (Bodley Head, 1992)

Non-fiction

* ''A Writer's Ireland: Landscape in Literature'' ( Thames & Hudson, 1984) * ''Excursions in the Real World: memoirs'' (Hutchinson, 1993)

As editor

* ''The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 1989)

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

William Trevor
at The British Council

at Ireland Literature Guide

at Read Ireland
William Trevor
at ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' * Archival material at * ;Interviews
Interview with John Tusa, BBC Radio 2010

Interview with Mark Lawson, BBC Radio 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trevor, William 1928 births 2016 deaths Saoithe Costa Book Award winners David Cohen Prize recipients Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Irish Anglicans Irish male short story writers Jacob's Award winners The New Yorker people People educated at St Columba's College, Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin People from Mitchelstown Writers from Devon 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish male writers Irish male novelists Irish PEN Award for Literature winners 20th-century Irish short story writers O. Henry Award winners People from Mid Devon District