Author and patron of Irish writing David Marcus was honoured for his work in discovering some of the most celebrated of Irish writers over the past 40 years when he was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature by University College Cork yesterday.
Prof Colbert Kearney recalled how Mr Marcus, who graduated with a degree in arts and law from UCC in the 1940s, abandoned a career in insurance in London in 1967 to return to Ireland to involve himself in journalism.
Literary magazines were becoming extinct at the time but Cork-born Mr Marcus, then literary editor of the Irish Press, introduced a page every week dedicated to New Irish Writing and developing writers.
"The page was an immediate success, inspiring hundreds of young writers, attracting a monthly average of 60 stories and more than 200 poems," said Prof Kearney, adding that the page's success led to the establishment of the Hennessy Literary Awards.
Mr Marcus later went on to co-found Poolbeg Press and published many new Irish writers in book form; so many, in fact, that it is often said that a list of writers he discovered is "a catalogue of the best of modern Irish writing".
Prof Kearney also commented on how Mr Marcus, who is the grandson of a Jewish refugee who fled tsarist persecution in Lithuania, provided a fascinating insight into the Jewish community in Cork during the Troubles in his novel, A Land Not Theirs.
Also honoured at yesterday's conferrings at UCC were poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, who received an honorary doctorate of Celtic studies, and composer and musician Micheál Ó Suilleabháin, who received an honorary doctorate of music.
An honorary doctorate of laws was also conferred on UCC secretary and bursar, Michael F Kelleher, who has been to the forefront of administration at the university for almost 40 years.
