Derry Girls writer awarded prestigious literary prize
Creator Lisa McGee based the show Derry Girls on her experiences growing up in the city
- Published
Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee has said it is a privilege to have been awarded the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize for the show’s finale.
Now in its 28th year, the award was founded in memory of the British Ambassador to Ireland who was murdered by the IRA in 1976.
The prize recognises work promoting peace and reconciliation.
Accepting the award, Ms McGee said: “It was a privilege to write this show, it is a privilege to accept this award”.
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“It means the world to me and to the Derry Girls team but more importantly it is something that has finally impressed my parents,” she said.
Ms McGee received the award on Tuesday at the Irish Embassy in London.
The multi-award winning writer said growing up she sensed she was from a “complicated place”.
“But I also knew we were so much more than the image that was so often reflected back to us," she said.
“We were a place full of colour and character and joy….. all we wanted to do was put that on screen and we also wanted to make people laugh,” she said.
Laughter, Ms McGee said, "helps us through the toughest of challenges”.
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The Bafta and international Emmy winning series was first broadcast in 2018 and ran for three seasons before finishing in 2022.
Based around Derry Girls Erin, Michelle, Clare and Orla, plus "the wee English fella" James, the show was about the everyday life of a group of teenagers set against the backdrop of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
It is the show’ s final episode - focused on Northern Ireland preparing to vote on the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 – which was recognised by the Christopher Ewart-Biggs judges.
Derry Girls centres on teenager Erin Quinn (centre) and her friends growing up in the city during the Troubles
The episode “approached the underlying questions of prejudice, antagonism, cultural division and violence with unique humour,” judge Prof Roy Foster said.
It had “empathy and verve, illuminating the decision to endorse the Good Friday Agreement, and linking it to a generation coming of age at a moment of hope,” he added.
In 2022, Lisa McGee was awarded the freedom of Derry City and Strabane, becoming the first ever female recipient of the council's highest honour.