CORK writer Cónal Creedon has won a prestigious global arts award which honours “outstanding personalities whose work has impacted the cultural legacy of mankind”.
The Cork city native, who is an esteemed novelist, playwright and documentary filmmaker, has won the World Cultural Council’s (WCC) Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts.
Founded over 40 years ago, the WCC is a non-profit organisation which prides itself on promoting “culture, values and goodwill throughout the world”.
Each year it awards the Albert Einstein World Award of Science, the José Vasconcelos World Award of Education and the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts to outstanding personalities “whose work has had a significantly positive impact on the cultural legacy of mankind”.
Today the organisation announced Creedon as the recipient of its arts award.
“The WCC Jury members were impressed by the diversity of Cónal Creedon’s artistic practice, reaching back over thirty years and across various media including: publication, theatre, film, radio, music, live performance, and collaboration with other artists,” they said.
“When examined in its entirety, his diverse output becomes a single cohesive body of work that resonates far beyond the inner-city streets of his native Cork.”
They added: “The global appeal of Cónal’s work becomes self-evident in the apparent ease and affability of his interaction with diverse international audiences. But above all, it is the quality of his writing that shines through.”
Creedon has made numerous documentaries throughout his career, which have been broadcast on RTÉ, the BBC, CBC, and ABC, with some receiving international screenings at the likes of the World Expo Shanghai in China and at NYU in New York.
His stage plays have toured extensively, receiving critical acclaim across the globe and gaining recognition in the New York Theatre Awards and nominations for the Irish Times Theatre Awards.
His 2018 novel Begotten not Made picked up the Bronze Award at the Next Generation Book Awards USA. In 2020 it won The Eric Hoffer Awards USA.
With his work translated into German, Bulgarian, Italian and Chinese - Creedon is also a regular on the international reading circuit.
“The members of the WCC Jury are happy to conclude that whether as a cultural or goodwill ambassador, a keynote speaker or simply a guest, Cónal Creedon never fails to bring humour and warmth with his insightful and entertaining words,” the organisation said.
“As one nominator remarked, ‘Cónal brings beauty and truth wherever he chooses to be',” they added.
The awards will be presented at the WCC’s 39th Award Ceremony hosted by McGill University at its historic downtown campus in the city of Montreal in Quebec, Canada.
The event will take place on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
See More: Cónal Creedon, World Cultural Council
