Esteemed Irish author to be honoured with prestigious literary award
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Esteemed Irish author to be honoured with prestigious literary award

COUNTRY GIRLS author Edna O'Brien is set to be honoured by the PEN America Literary Awards.

The 87-year-old Irish woman is to be honoured with a prestigious award from the PEN Institute in America.

O'Brien will be given the PEN/Nabokov Award For Achievement In International Literature due to her prolific work in pushing boundaries in Irish society, writing on topics such as love, sex, rape and abortion and the viewpoint of an Irish woman.

The award is given once a year to a living author whose body of work, either written in or translated into English, represents the highest level of achievement in fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and/or drama, and is of enduring originality and consummate craftsmanship.

According to the PEN website, O'Brien was chosen: "For her powerful voice and the absolute perfection of her prose, and her body of work including The Country Girls Trilogy, The Light of Evening, Byron in Love, and The Little Red Chairs."

O'Brien will be given the award on February 20th at a ceremony in New York City.