Irish American Writers & Artists, Inc. announced today that Dan Barry will receive its 2023 Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award on Oct. 16 at a celebration at the restaurant 5th & MAD, located at 7 East 36th St. in midtown Manhattan.
Named for the playwright who embodied the highest level of artistic achievement, the annual O’Neill Award recognizes Dan Barry’s exemplary contributions to the arts. This year’s event takes place on the 135th anniversary of Eugene O’Neill’s birth.
A longtime journalist for the New York Times, Dan Barry writes on topics including sports, culture, New York City, and the nation. He has covered major events, including the World Trade Center catastrophe, Hurricane Katrina, and the coronavirus pandemic, and wrote both the About New York and This Land columns. His work has garnered numerous journalism awards and he has been twice nominated as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. In 1992, he shared a George Polk Award as a member of the investigative team at The Providence Journal, and in 1994, as a member of that team, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for an investigation into Rhode Island’s court system. Dan Barry has shared three Emmys for documentaries produced by The Times, and is the author of the books, including “Pull Me Up: A Memoir”; “The Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude and Salvation in the Heartland”; and “Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game,” which won the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing.
Maria Deasy, President of Irish American Writers & Artists, said, "In 2014, IAW&A celebrated the renowned writer Pete Hamill -- it was my first O'Neill Award ceremony as a Board member. That night, Dan Barry delivered his tribute, ‘Scones for Pete Hamill,’ and brought the house down. It is such a privilege to come full circle in honoring Dan, a virtuoso in honest reporting and a writer of natural eloquence."
IAW&A Vice President Brendan Costello Jr. echoed, "No matter the subject, Dan Barry's writing captures the humanity in every story with poignant empathy."
Dan Barry joins IAW&A’s previous O’Neill recipients Peter Quinn, Joanie Madden, Malachy McCourt, Patricia Harty, Pete Hamill, Judy Collins, Charlotte Moore and Ciarán O’Reilly, William Kennedy, Kate Mulgrew, John Patrick Shanley and Larry Kirwan.
Tickets are available here. For more information about IAW&A, visit its website here or on Facebook @IrishAmericanWritersArtists.
