Editing Brian Friel (section)

==Major prizes and honours==
In 1989, [[BBC Radio]] launched a "Brian Friel Season", a six-play series devoted to his work; he was the first living playwright to receive such an honour. In 1999 (April–August), Friel's 70th birthday was celebrated in Dublin with the Friel Festival, during which ten of his plays were staged or presented as dramatic readings throughout Dublin. A conference, National Library exhibition, film screenings, pre-show talks, and the launching of a special issue of ''The Irish University Review'' devoted to the playwright ran in conjunction with the festival. Also in 1999, ''[[The Irish Times]]'' extended him the honour of a lifetime achievement award.

On 22 February 2006, President [[Mary McAleese]] presented Friel with a gold [[torc]] in recognition of his election to the position of [[Saoi]] by his fellow members of [[Aosdána]]. On acceptance of the gold Torc, Friel quipped: "I knew that being made a Saoi, really getting this award, is extreme unction; it is a final anointment—Aosdana's last rites." Only five members of Aosdána could hold this honour at the time, and Friel joined fellow Saoithe [[Louis le Brocquy]], [[Benedict Kiely]], [[Seamus Heaney]] and [[Anthony Cronin]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2006/0222/406317-frielb/ |title=Brian Friel receives award from McAleese |publisher=RTÉ News |date=22 February 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305011753/http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2006/0222/406317-frielb/ |archive-date= 5 March 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.examiner.ie/breakingnews/ireland/cweyojidkfsn/|title=Prestigious award for playwright Friel|newspaper=Irish Examiner|date=22 February 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004212901/http://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/cweyojidkfsn/|archive-date=4 October 2015}}</ref> In August 2006, Heaney (also a friend of the Friels) who had been in attendance at the 75th birthday of Friel's wife in County Donegal, suffered a stroke on the morning after the celebration.<ref>{{cite news|first=Robert|last=McCrum|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/jul/19/seamus-heaney-interview|title=A life of rhyme|work=The Guardian|date=18 July 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8158697.stm|title=Poet 'cried for father' after stroke|work=BBC News|date=20 July 2009}}</ref>

In November 2008, [[Queen's University of Belfast|The Queen's University of Belfast]] announced its intention to build a new theatre complex and research centre, to be named [[Brian Friel Theatre|The Brian Friel Theatre and Centre for Theatre Research]]. Friel attended its opening in 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.brianfrieltheatre.co.uk/|title=Brian Friel 1929 – 2015|publisher=Brian Friel Theatre|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004231618/http://www.brianfrieltheatre.co.uk/|archive-date=4 October 2015}}</ref>

Friel's 80th birthday fell in 2009.<ref name="friel-furrow-heart">{{cite news|first=Emer|last=O'Kelly|url=http://www.independent.ie/incoming/friels-deep-furrow-cuts-to-our-heart-1879651.html|title=Friel's deep furrow cuts to our heart|newspaper=Sunday Independent|date=6 September 2009}}</ref> The journal ''Irish Theatre International'' published a Special Issue to commemorate the occasion with seven articles devoted to the playwright. The Gate Theatre staged three plays (''Faith Healer,'' ''The Yalta Game,'' and ''Afterplay'') for several weeks in September. In the midst of the Gate's productions, the Abbey Theatre presented "A Birthday Celebration for Brian Friel," on 13 September 2009. Although not inclined to seek publicity, Friel attended the performance amid regular seating, received a cake while the audience sang "Happy Birthday," and mingled with well-wishers afterwards. The Abbey event was an evening of staged readings (excerpts from ''Philadelphia, Here I Come!'', ''Translations,'' and ''Dancing at Lughnasa''), the performance of Friel-specific songs and nocturnes, and readings by Thomas Kilroy and Seamus Heaney.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats_on/event/brian_friel/|title=Brian Friel|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004212611/http://www.abbeytheatre.ie/whats_on/event/brian_friel/|archive-date=4 October 2015}}</ref>

===Selected awards===
* 1988 [[Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play]] – ''[[Aristocrats (play)|Aristocrats]]''
* 1989 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play – ''[[Aristocrats (play)|Aristocrats]]''
* 1991 [[Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play|Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play]] – ''[[Dancing at Lughnasa]]''
* 1992 New York Drama Critics Circle award for best play– ''[[Dancing at Lughnasa]]''
* 1992 [[Tony Award for Best Play]] – ''[[Dancing at Lughnasa]]''
* 1995 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Foreign Play – ''[[Molly Sweeney]]''
* 2006 Induction into the [[American Theater Hall of Fame]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/theater-dance/2007/01/31/Theater-Hall-of-Fame-honors-August-Wilson-seven-others/stories/200701310196|title=Theater Hall of Fame honors August Wilson, seven others|newspaper=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette}}</ref>
* 2009 [https://www.ucd.ie/news/2009/06JUN09/170609_ulysses.html UCD Ulysses Medal]
* 2010 Donegal Person of the Year<ref>{{cite news|first=Barry|last=Egan|url=http://www.independent.ie/incoming/incoming_dailyfeed/celebrating-the-life-of-brian-2548142.html|title=Celebrating the life of Brian|newspaper=Sunday Independent|date=20 February 2011}}</ref>
*Member of the [[American Academy of Arts and Letters]]
*Member of the [[Royal Society of Literature|British Royal Society of Literature]]<ref name="rslit.org"/>
*Member of the [[Irish Academy of Letters]]
*Visiting Writer at [[Magee College]] (1970–71 academic year)
*Honorary doctorate from Rosary College, [[River Forest, Illinois]] (1974)