Lavin, Mary (1912-1996), was an American-born writer of novels and short stories set against a middle-class Irish background. Lavin’s recurring themes include family relationships and conflicts over class, property, and religion. Her first book of short stories, Tales from Bective Bridge (1942), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, one of the oldest and most prestigious book awards in the United Kingdom, in 1943. The 10 stories in the collection are all set in the Irish village of Bective. During her long career, Levin completed 19 collections of short stories and two novels, The House in Clewe Street (1945) and Mary O’Grady (1950). Lavin also wrote a children’s book set in Bective, A Likely Story (1957). Her Collected Stories was published in 1971.
Mary Lavin was born on June 11, 1912, in East Walpole, Massachusetts, United States. She moved to Ireland in 1921 and studied at the National University of Ireland. She wrote her first short story while attending the university. Lavin died on March 25, 1996.
