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Morgan Llywelyn | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sally Snyder (1937-12-03)December 3, 1937 (age 87) New York City, U.S. |
| Occupation | Writer |
| Nationality | Irish, American |
| Period | 1978–present |
| Genre | Historical fantasy,historical fiction |
| Subject | Irish history |
Morgan Llywelyn (born December 3, 1937) is an American-Irish historical interpretation author ofhistorical andmythological fiction andhistoricalnon-fiction. Her interpretation of mythology and history has received several awards and has sold more than 40 million copies, and she herself is recipient of the 1999Exceptional Celtic Woman of the Year Award fromCeltic Women International.[1][2]
Llywelyn was born Sally Snyder inNew York in 1937. She was the daughter of Joseph John (an attorney) and she attended high school in Dallas.[3] In her teens, Llywelyn moved to theDallas area, where she developed a love of horses. By the age of 16, Llywelyn was competing in professional horse shows across the United States. By age 18, she modeled forNeiman Marcus andArthur Murray. After 15 years of experience as ahorse trainer and instructor, she tried out for and narrowly missed making the 1976 United StatesOlympic Team indressage. She was instead shortlisted, missing the cut off score by .05 percent.[2]
With her mother's encouragement and a successfully published article on horse training, she refocused her efforts in tracing the Llywelyn family history and eventually made a career out of writinghistorical novels that allowed the exploration of herCeltic roots.[1] In reference to this career change, Llywelyn had this to say:
I have a strong strain of Welsh on my mother's side, which does indeed go back toLlywelyn ap Iorwerth. AndLlywelyn the Great! (We have the proven genealogy from theCollege of Heralds.) She was very proud of her royal Welsh connection. That is why she was so interested ingenealogy in the first place, and inspired me to get involved as well ... leading in turn to THE WIND FROM HASTINGS. But both my parents were predominantlyIrish – my father totally so – and I spent half the years of my childhood here. So I have always been much more interested inIreland and its history and legends.[2]
Llywelyn has received several awards for her works. She received the Novel of the Year Award from theNational League of American Penwomen for her novel,The Horse Goddess, as well as the Woman of the Year Award from the Irish-American Heritage Committee forBard: The Odyssey of the Irish. The latter award was presented to her byEd Koch, then-mayor of New York City.[1]
Although Llywelyn's grandparents have their roots in Ireland, it was only after the death of her parents and her husband in 1985 that she relocated to Ireland. Llywelyn now lives outsideDublin and has become an Irish citizen.[1]
In 1990, Llywelyn began her focus on writing books geared for younger readers. These works started withBrian Boru: Emperor of the Irish, for which she won an Irish Children's Book TrustBisto Award in 1991, and includes other titles, such asStrongbow: The Story of Richard and Aoife, for which she won aBisto Award in the Historical Fiction category, 1993 and the Reading Association of Ireland Award, 1993, andStar Dancer, which departed from her usual Celtic topic and was centered on her experiences with dressage. Further works includeThe Vikings in Ireland, an exploration of when theNorsemen arrived in Ireland, andPirate Queen, a younger reader's version of the story ofGrace O'Malley, told through letters fromGranuaile to her beloved son.[1]
| Year | Title | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Wind From Hastings |
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| Lion of Ireland |
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| The Horse Goddess |
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| Bard: The Odyssey Of The Irish |
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| Xeres: Past & Present : Non-fiction Biography |
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| Red Branch |
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| Brian Boru: Emperor Of The Irish |
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| Druids |
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| 1991 | The Last Prince of Ireland |
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| 1993 | Strongbow: The Story of Richard and Aoife |
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| Finn Mac Cool |
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| 1996 | Cold Places |
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| Pride of Lions |
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| 1916: A Novel Of The Irish Rebellion |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
