Congratulations to musician Glen Hansard, who was awarded the inaugural DIT Brendan Behan Award in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the arts.
The Dublin musician was honoured for his long and varied career as a singer, songwriter and actor. His musical path began at the age of 13 as a busker on Grafton St, and since then he has produced a huge body of work as a solo artist, and with The Frames and The Swell Season. He won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original Song with Marketa Irglová for “Falling Slowly” from the film Once. He recently played the prestigious Carnegie Hall venue in New York.
“Brendan Behan, coming from inner city Dublin sculpted new ground in the world of literature. He paved the way for Irish talent abroad. We cannot think of a better Irishman to be the first recepient of the Brendan Behan Award – Glen Hansard, A true Irish treaure, started busking on Grafton Street and climbed all the way to the top, both nationally and internationally.” said Tara Kelleher, chairperson of DIT Societies Student Media & Arts committee.
The Brendan Behan award was established by the students of DIT societies in then name of the author and playwright who attended DIT in the 1930’s. The award has been welcomed by the Behan family who believe it is the first to be established in Behan’s name.
Brendan Behan, who was from Dublin’s inner city, was a bilingual poet, novelist and playwright. His plays include The Quare Fellow, The Hostage (translated from his Irish play An Giall) and he is best known for his autobiography The Borstal Boy, which chronicled his time in prison.