The Irish American Writers & Artists has announced that author and filmmaker Mary Pat Kelly will receive the 2026 Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award, “honoring her extraordinary body of work and her enduring contributions to literature, film, television, history, and Irish-American culture.”
The award will be presented on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at Joe’s Pub at The Public Theater in New York City. The annual celebration “brings together writers, artists, performers, and friends of the Irish-American cultural community for an evening of music, dance, food, drink, and fellowship.”
The IAW&A said, “Kelly is a fitting recipient of an award bearing the name of Eugene O’Neill. Like O’Neill, whose work transformed the American stage by drawing deeply on questions of family, identity, faith, heritage, and the immigrant experience, Kelly has spent her career exploring the complicated and compelling stories that connect Ireland and America.
“Mary Pat Kelly has devoted her extraordinary talents to telling stories that matter,” said Liza Engesser, President of IAW&A. “Her work embodies the very qualities this award celebrates—artistic excellence, intellectual curiosity, courage, and an unwavering commitment to preserving and illuminating the Irish-American experience. We are thrilled to honor her.”
Born and raised in Chicago, “Kelly has built a remarkable career that has taken her from television and Hollywood to documentary filmmaking and bestselling historical fiction. She has worked as an associate producer for “Good Morning America” and “Saturday Night Live,” and as a screenwriter for Paramount Pictures and Columbia Pictures. She also wrote the book and lyrics for the musical “Abby’s Song.”
Mary Pat Kelly pictured, in green, at the American Literary Association’s Annual Conference in Chicago in May 2026.
Her career as a filmmaker, the IAW&A commented, “has been particularly distinguished. Kelly wrote and directed the feature film ‘Proud,’ starring Ossie Davis and Stephen Rea, based on the extraordinary story of the USS ‘Mason,’ the only U.S. Navy destroyer in World War II to have an African-American crew take the ship into combat. She also created three award-winning PBS documentaries: ‘To Live for Ireland,’ a portrait of Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume; ‘Home Away from Home: The Yanks in Ireland,’ about U.S. forces in Northern Ireland during World War II; and ‘Proudly We Served: The Men of the USS “Mason”.’
“As an author, Kelly has demonstrated the same commitment to recovering history and bringing overlooked stories to life. She is the bestselling author of ‘Galway Bay,’ the first novel in a trilogy of Irish-American historical fiction that continues with ‘Of Irish Blood’ and ‘Irish Above All.’ The trilogy draws on her own family history and the experiences of Irish immigrants, connecting the Great Famine, emigration, and the forging of Irish-American identity across generations.
IAW&A continued, “Kelly’s nonfiction work encompasses subjects ranging from history and contemporary events to the art of filmmaking. She is the author of ‘Martin Scorsese: The First Decade and Martin Scorsese: A Journey,’ the latter offering an expansive portrait of the legendary filmmaker through interviews with Scorsese, his collaborators, friends, family, and many of the actors who brought his films to life.”
Kelly graduated from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, attended NYU Film School, and earned a Ph.D. in English from the CUNY Graduate Center. Her career has encompassed journalism, television production, screenwriting, filmmaking, scholarship, biography, fiction, and theater.
Kelly's work has received significant recognition within the Irish-American community. Irish America has twice named her among its Top 100 Irish Americans, as well as among the Top Global Irish, and selected her for its inaugural Top 50 Power Women. IAW&A said, “Kelly has also been a longtime contributor to Irish America, further reflecting her commitment to documenting and strengthening the cultural connections between Ireland and the United States.”
It added, “For IAW&A, Kelly's selection also carries particular resonance. The organization exists to foster and celebrate the work of Irish-American writers and artists across disciplines. Kelly's career exemplifies that intersection: she has moved fluidly among literature, theater, television, film, documentary, journalism, and scholarship while consistently returning to questions of heritage, memory, identity, and the power of storytelling.
“The Eugene O’Neill Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes an artist whose life's work reflects the creative excellence and cultural impact associated with O'Neill's legacy. O'Neill, born in New York in 1888 to an Irish-American family, became America's preeminent dramatist and the first American playwright to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. His work drew deeply on family, Irish-American identity, spirituality, struggle, and the human condition.
“Mary Pat Kelly's career offers a contemporary continuation of that storytelling tradition—one that crosses generations, genres, and an ocean, while keeping the Irish-American experience at its heart.”
Additional information regarding tickets, sponsorship, performers, and the evening's program will be announced by Irish American Writers & Artists.
