Irish American Writers & Artists (IAW&A) will honor St. Bonaventure alumnus and longtime New York Times reporter and columnist Dan Barry, ’80, with its prestigious 2023 Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award.
Irish American Writers & Artists (IAW&A) will honor St. Bonaventure alumnus and longtime New York Times reporter and columnist Dan Barry, ’80, with its prestigious 2023 Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award.
An Oct. 16 celebration at the midtown Manhattan restaurant 5th & MAD is planned.
Named for the playwright who embodied the highest level of artistic achievement, the annual O’Neill Award recognizes Barry’s exemplary contributions to the arts. This year’s event takes place on the 135th anniversary of Eugene O’Neill’s birth.
At The Times, Barry writes on myriad topics, including sports, culture, New York City, and the nation. He has written 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.
Barry has shared three Emmys for documentaries produced by The Times, and is the author of several 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,” the winner of the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing.
Barry, who appears on the Jandoli School of Communication’s Wall of Distinguished Graduates, was named the school’s Alumnus of the Year in 1994, and received an honorary degree from the university in 2016.
Maria Deasy, president of Irish American Writers & Artists, said it is a privilege to honor Barry.
“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,” she said.
“No matter the subject, Dan Barry’s writing captures the humanity in every story with poignant empathy,” said IAW&A Vice President Brendan Costello Jr.
Barry joins distinguished O’Neill recipients including 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.
For more information about IAW&A, visit https://iamwa.org/.