« The Lighthouse Cinema reopens
Tuesday gig madness - New Bloods »

May 10th, 2008

Writer Nuala O’Faolain dies

ofaolainWriter Nuala O’Faolain passed away during the night aged 68. The author, best known for her memoirs Are You Somebody? had been battling terminal cancer that had only recently been diagnosed. Last month, she was interviewed by Marian Finucane about facing death, and in the interview she is honest and unsentimenal about her own mortality. It was one of the most affecting pieces of radio I’ve ever heard. As Marian points out in the introduction, O’Faolain’s views are not for everyone, especially those in similar predicament, but it was an unflinchingly brave and articulate account of what it feels like to know you’re about to die.

You can listen to the interview here - click on the audio link for the April 12th programme. There’s also a full transcript of the interview here.

Posted in Literary | By Sinead

  • Both comments and trackbacks are currenlty open for this entry.
  • Trackback URI: http://www.sineadgleeson.com/blog/2008/05/10/writer-nuala-ofaolain-dies/trackback/
  • Comments RSS 2.0

6 Responses to “Writer Nuala O’Faolain dies”

  1. Colm Says:

    May 10th, 2008 at 11:12 pm

    I was very heartened to hear that she found comfort in the reaction to that interview. It seems that in some small way she came to terms with dying.

  2. Chancer Says:

    May 12th, 2008 at 11:34 am

    Couldn’t agree more with Colm. I think its also brilliant that perhaps the most important thing she ever said came right at the end of her life. It came not long after a bereavement in my own life and was not easy to hear, but made a huge amount of sense to me.

  3. Women Rule Writer Says:

    May 12th, 2008 at 11:35 am

    She will be missed. She was a lovely, honest person and a great writer.

  4. jen Says:

    May 12th, 2008 at 3:38 pm

    Thanks so much for posting this or I may not have known for a while. And that radio interview. Gut wrenching at times, but so worth listening to. Glad to hear her say she was in touch with Nell McCafferty. Amazing women, both.

  5. ruth Says:

    May 13th, 2008 at 5:15 am

    I am so sad to hear, and I wouldn’t have hear either for a while if you hadn’t had published it. Thanks Sinead. I loved her writing, her honesty, and bravery. I really wanted to read many more of her books. Life is too short.

  6. famron Says:

    May 13th, 2008 at 7:42 am

    Over the years I looked forward so much to Nuala’s column in Monday’s IT. I loved her writing, humanity, and her take on our world. I’ll miss her.

Leave a Reply