A first edition of Irish author and dramatist Samuel Beckett’s first published novel ‘Murphy’ turned up in an Oxfam charity shop and was auctioned off to raise an impressive $18,000.

From Tuesday, June 26 until Friday the 29th, you have a rare chance to catch one of Irish playwright Samuel Beckett’s most absorbing plays, Act Without Words II, performed nightly at 9 p.m. at Theatre Alley (between Nassau and Centre Street) in New York.

    Paul Murray’s first novel, An Evening of Long Goodbyes, was shortlisted for the 2003 Whitbreat Award. His second novel, Skippy Dies, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Murray studied English at Trinity College Dublin and received his Master’s in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Skippy Dies takes place inside and outside the walls of Seabrook College, an established Catholic boarding school in wealthy South Dublin. Daniel “Skippy” Juster, one of its fourteen-year-old students, does die, on page 5 of the prologue. Murray spends the rest of the 661 pages telling us what led up to and what follows Skippy’s death on the floor of Ed’s Doughnut Shop – revealing much about contemporary Irish society along the way.    

The Samuel Beckett Bridge, named in honor one of of Ireland's literary giants, was officially opened in Dublin on Thursday.

With the recent publication of the first volume of Beckett’s letters I started to recall the last time I met Beckett in Paris in 1988.  

Beckett Comes to Lincoln Center READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/gossip/The-Brilliance-of-Beckett-2978.html http://www.irishcentral.com/gossip/The-Brilliance-of-Beckett-2978.html Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:27:46 PDT By:

The Brilliance of Beckett READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Images-of-Beckett-3759.html http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Images-of-Beckett-3759.html Sun, 08 Mar 2009 10:06:51 PDT By: TOM DEIGNAN

Speaking of great Irish drama and striking photographs, "Images of Beckett" by John Haynes and James Knowlson is one of the more unusual, yet still engaging books you will come across. The title is a bit misleading. The book does have over 75 illustrations. But the text is actually just as important in this book as the pictures, which include images of the author, as well as of productions of his many plays. Haynes (who worked at the Royal Court Theatre in London when Beckett was directing his own plays) worked on this book's photography, while Knowlson contributes three penetrating essays on the Dublin-born playwright. Knowlson is a particularly knowledgeable writer, having been a friend to Beckett, and later a biographer. This book may be more for devoted Beckett fans. Still, it offers a fresh look at a writer about whom much has already been written. ($30 / 159 pages / Cambridge University Press)

Actor Barry McGovern is regarded as Ireland's finest interpreter of Samuel Beckett's works. This month he'll perform his hit one-man show I'll Go On at New York's Lincoln Center Festival as part of Gate/Beckett, a program of three Beckett works also featuring Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. CAHIR O'DOHERTY talks to McGovern about the show and the famous company he's keeping. READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Honoring-Beckett-1597.html http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Honoring-Beckett-1597.html Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:58:25 PDT By:

THAT was quite a tribute to Irish writer Samuel Beckett staged last week at Lincoln Center during the well received Gate/Beckett Festival. READ MORE ]]> http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Samuel-Beckett-Three-Novels-3554.html http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Samuel-Beckett-Three-Novels-3554.html Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:55:16 PDT By: TOM DEIGNAN

For those who prefer listening to reading, an 18-disc set of "Samuel Beckett: Three Novels" has been released. Barry McGovern (who has performed a one-man show based on Beckett's work) reads "Molloy," "Malone" and "The Unnamable," all written in the 1940s. Beckett, of course, is best known for his plays, particularly "Waiting for Godot." But any list of the great novels of the 20th century also must include these three masterpieces. ($70 / RTE-Lannan)