The Irish writer, John Banville, has won the 2005 Man Booker Prize for fiction for his novel "The Sea".

The Minister for Arts of Ireland, Mr. John O'Donoghue, said on 11 October,  "This is a marvellous achievement for John Banville, who is one of Ireland's most serious and gifted writers. John has always inspired other Irish writers and his winning of the prestigious Booker award is well deserved."

The announcement for the £50,000 prize was made on 10 October at the awards dinner in London. Banville, who was also short-listed for the award in 1989, was the first Irish author to win the Booker Prize since Roddy Doyle's success in 1993 with “Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha”.
The Ambassador of Ireland to China, Declan Kelleher, said “ The award of this significant literature prize to an Irish writer reflects the richness of Ireland’s literary traditions and the extraordinary talent of Irish writers.  I hope that this success will encourage more Chinese people to develop an interest in Irish literature.”

ENDS
 
Background

Four Irish writers, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett, George Bernard Shaw and Seamus Heaney, have won Nobel prizes for literature.  The Irish writer, James Joyce, is widely regarded as one of the most successful writers in the English language and his masterpiece, “Ulysses” has been translated twice into Chinese. Oscar Wilde is also a highly-regarded Irish poet, writer and playwright.  Many works of Irish literature have been translated into Chinese.
The Man Booker Prize is in its 37th year and is awarded annually. It is regarded as the most prestigious English-language literature award in the world. 

For more information contact the Embassy of Ireland, Beijing:
Helen Kavanagh 6532 2427 ext. 217
Lisa Huang 6532 2427 ext 213

爱尔兰作家获得文学大奖

　　爱尔兰作家约翰•班维尔（John Banville）以其小说“海”赢得了2005年度“布克奖”。

　　爱尔兰文化艺术部长约翰•奥当纳休（John O’Donoghue）10月11日说“约翰•班维尔（John Banville） 是爱尔兰最深刻和最有天赋的作家之一。赢得这一奖项对约翰•班维尔（John Banville）来说是一个了不起的成就。他极大地鼓舞了爱尔兰作家们，他获此大奖是当之无愧的。”

　　这一5万英镑的大奖是10月10日在伦敦举行的颁奖晚宴上公布的。班维尔1998年曾被提名此奖， 他是继罗迪•多伊尔 (Roddy Doyle) 于1993年以其作品<<爱尔兰人克拉克，哈哈哈>>成功获奖后的第一位爱尔兰作家。

　　爱尔兰驻华大使戴克澜先生说：“这一意义重大的文学奖授给了一位爱尔兰作家，它反映了爱尔兰丰富的文学传统和爱尔兰作家非凡的才华。 我希望这一成功典范能激励更多的中国人对爱尔兰文学产生兴趣。”

　　背景

　　爱尔兰有四位作家获得过诺贝尔文学奖， 他们是叶芝，贝克特，萧伯纳和希尼。 爱尔兰作家乔伊斯被公认为最成功的英语作家， 他的巨著“尤里西斯”已被两次翻译成中文。 王尔德也是一位倍受赞誉的爱尔兰诗人， 作家和剧作家。 爱尔兰文学的许多作品都已经被翻译成中文。

　　“布克奖”从创办至今已有37年的历史，每年颁奖一次。 它被誉为全球最有声望的英语文学大奖。

如需获得更多信息， 请致电爱尔兰驻华使馆：
Helen Kavanagh 65322427 转 217
Lisa Huang  65322427 转 213