John Broderick (
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...
, Ireland, 30 July 1924 –
Bath
Bath may refer to:
* Bathing, immersion in a fluid
** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body
** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe
* Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities
Plac ...
, England, 28 May 1989) was an
Irish novelist.
Biography
Broderick was born in
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midland Region, Ir ...
, Ireland, on 30 July 1924.
He was the only child of the proprietors of a thriving local business, Broderick's Bakery. His father died when he was three years old. He began his secondary education at the Marist Brothers' School but at the age of 12, on his mother's remarriage to the bakery manager in 1936, he was sent to board at St Joseph's College, Garbally,
Ballinasloe
Ballinasloe ( ; ) is a town in the easternmost part of County Galway, Ireland. Located at an ancient crossing point on the River Suck, evidence of ancient settlement in the area includes a number of Bronze Age sites. Built around a 12th-centur ...
. He left in 1941 without sitting the Leaving Certificate and was expected to take over the bakery business, but always intended to write.
From 1951 he lived for a time in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
where he knew some of the French and expatriate literary community, among them
Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...
,
Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics ...
,
James Baldwin
James Arthur Baldwin (né Jones; August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer and civil rights activist who garnered acclaim for his essays, novels, plays, and poems. His 1953 novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'' has been ranked ...
and most importantly
Julien Green
Julien Green (originally "Julian Hartridge Green", 6 September 1900 – 13 August 1998) often Julian Green, was an American writer who lived most of his life in France and wrote mostly in French and only occasionally in English. Over a long and ...
. Green was a French academician, novelist and diarist, who became a mentor and personal friend. He visited Broderick in Athlone in 1974 and 1975.
Broderick lived most of his life in Athlone; with his mother until her death in 1974, and alone until he moved to Bath England in 1981. He died in Bath on 28 May 1989.
Literary work
''The Irish Times'' accepted a travel article from Broderick in 1956. In the same year, the paper published the first of his book reviews. He continued to review widely and to write general articles for ''The Irish Times'' and ''Hibernia'' magazine, among others, until shortly before his death. As a critic he was frequently controversial being dismissive of a number of established writers including
Heinrich Böll
Heinrich Theodor Böll (; ; 21 December 1917 – 16 July 1985) was a German writer. Considered one of Germany's foremost post-World War II writers, Böll received the Georg Büchner Prize (1967) and the Nobel Prize for Literature (1972).
Bio ...
,
Seamus Heaney
Seamus Justin Heaney (13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish Irish poetry, poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. Among his best-known works is ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966), his first m ...
and most notably
Edna O'Brien
Josephine Edna O'Brien (15 December 1930 – 27 July 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer.
O'Brien's works often revolve around the inner feelings of women and their problems relating to men and soc ...
while he was generous and encouraging to a host of young Irish writers.
His first novel, ''The Pilgrimage'' (1961) was banned by the
Irish Censorship Board.
Broderick was elected to membership of the Irish Academy of Letters in 1968, and in 1975 received the Academy's Annual Award for Literature. The
Westmeath
County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...
County Library system has a collection of his papers, manuscripts and other materials.
Books
Broderick's novels include:
* ''The Pilgrimage'' (1961). London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld ...
. It was banned in Ireland by the Censorship Board and published in the United States as ''The Chameleons''. In the same year it was published in France by Editions
Plon as ''Le Pélerinage''. It was reissued in France in 1991 by Editions de la Découverte and in Ireland (2004) by
The Lilliput Press
The Lilliput Press is an Irish publishing house, founded in 1984 by Antony Farrell. Since its inception, Lilliput has published over 600 titles, ranging from art and architecture, autobiography and memoir, biography and history, ecology and envi ...
.
* ''The Fugitives'' (1962). London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld ...
and Paris: Editions
Plon.
* ''Don Juaneen'' (1963). London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld ...
.
* ''The Waking of Willie Ryan'' (1965). London:
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991.
History
George Weidenfeld ...
, reissued 2004, Dublin:
The Lilliput Press
The Lilliput Press is an Irish publishing house, founded in 1984 by Antony Farrell. Since its inception, Lilliput has published over 600 titles, ranging from art and architecture, autobiography and memoir, biography and history, ecology and envi ...
.
* ''An Apology for Roses'' (1973). London:
Calder & Boyars.
* ''The Pride of Summer'' (1976). London:
Harrap.
* ''London Irish'' (1979). London:
Barrie & Jenkins
Barrie & Jenkins was a small British publishing house that was formed in 1964 from the merger of the companies Herbert Jenkins (founded by English writer Herbert George Jenkins) and Barrie & Rockliff (whose managing director was Leopold Ullstein ...
.
* ''The Trial of Father Dillingham'' (1974). Paris: Editions
Plon as ''Cité Pleine des Rêves''. (1982) London & New York:
Marion Boyars
Marion Ursula Boyars, ''née'' Asmus (26 October 1927 – 1 February 1999), was a British book publisher who in 1975 founded her own imprint, Marion Boyars Publishers.
Biography
She was born Marion Asmus in New York, daughter of German publisher ...
.
* ''A Prayer for Fair Weather'' (1984). London:
Marion Boyars
Marion Ursula Boyars, ''née'' Asmus (26 October 1927 – 1 February 1999), was a British book publisher who in 1975 founded her own imprint, Marion Boyars Publishers.
Biography
She was born Marion Asmus in New York, daughter of German publisher ...
.
* ''The Rose Tree'' (1985). London & New York:
Marion Boyars
Marion Ursula Boyars, ''née'' Asmus (26 October 1927 – 1 February 1999), was a British book publisher who in 1975 founded her own imprint, Marion Boyars Publishers.
Biography
She was born Marion Asmus in New York, daughter of German publisher ...
.
* ''The Flood'' (1987). London & New York:
Marion Boyars
Marion Ursula Boyars, ''née'' Asmus (26 October 1927 – 1 February 1999), was a British book publisher who in 1975 founded her own imprint, Marion Boyars Publishers.
Biography
She was born Marion Asmus in New York, daughter of German publisher ...
.
* ''The Irish Magdalen'' (1991). London:
Marion Boyars
Marion Ursula Boyars, ''née'' Asmus (26 October 1927 – 1 February 1999), was a British book publisher who in 1975 founded her own imprint, Marion Boyars Publishers.
Biography
She was born Marion Asmus in New York, daughter of German publisher ...
(published posthumously).
Memorials
Since 1999, Broderick has been commemorated in a number of ways, including:
* The Athlone Town Council named a street John Broderick Street
* The John Broderick Committee financially supported the publication of ''Something in the Head, the Life and Works of John Broderick'', by Madeline Kingston (Lilliput 2004) and also the re-issue of ''The Pilgrimage'' and ''The Waking of Willie Ryan''
* In 2007 Lilliput also published ''Stimulus of Sin'', a selection of Broderick's non-fiction writings with some previously unpublished fiction
* Literary week-ends and events to keep his memory alive have been and are being organised from time to time
References
Further reading
*Kingston, Madeline (2004). ''Something in the head: the life and work of John Broderick'', with a foreword by D J Taylor. Dublin: Lilliput Press.
*Kingston, Madeline ed.(2007). ''Stimulus of sin: selected writings of John Broderick'' with a foreword by Colm Toibin. Dublin: Lilliput Press.
*100 Years of John Broderick, Arts Council https://www.artscouncil.ie/uploadedFiles/wwwartscouncilie/Content/Arts_in_Ireland/Local_arts/John%20Broderick%20Pamplet.pdf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broderick, John
1924 births
1989 deaths
20th-century Irish novelists
20th-century Irish male writers
Irish male novelists
Irish expatriates in France