Samuel Beckett

Samuel Beckett was an Irish author, critic, and playwright who wrote in both English and French. He is considered one of the last modernist writers and one of the key figures in the Theatre of the Absurd. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic experiences of life, often coupled with black comedy and nonsense. His work became increasingly minimalist as his career progressed, involving more aesthetic and linguistic experimentation, with techniques of stream of consciousness, repetition and self-reference. Beckett studied modern literature and Romance languages at Trinity College, Dublin, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1927. He moved to Paris in 1928, where he met the Irish writer James Joyce and joined his circle. He returned to Ireland in 1930, but resigned from his teaching post at Trinity College in 1931 and embarked on a period of restless travel in Europe. He published his first novel, Murphy, in 1938, and his first collection of short stories, More Pricks than Kicks, in 1934. He also wrote poems, essays, and reviews. During World War II, Beckett joined the French Resistance and was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1945. He settled in Paris after the war and began writing in French, which he felt gave him more artistic freedom and detachment. His first play, En attendant Godot (Waiting for Godot), was premiered in 1953 and became a sensation, establishing him as a major playwright. He followed it with other plays, such as Fin de partie (Endgame), Krapp's Last Tape, Happy Days, and Not I, as well as novels, such as Molloy, Malone meurt (Malone Dies), and L'Innommable (The Unnamable). Beckett received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969, but declined to attend the ceremony. He continued to write until his death in 1989, producing works such as Comment c'est (How It Is), Oh les beaux jours (Happy Days), and Stirrings Still. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and original writers of the 20th century.