Victor Power Papers

(Patrick) Victor Power was born October 16, 1930 in Dublin, Ireland, the son of Patrick and Kathleen (Murphy) Power. He was educated at St. John’s College in Waterford, Ireland, receiving a BA in 1951 and a BD in 1954. He was ordained a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Waterford and Linsmore, Ireland, in 1954. He served as a pastor in churches in Ireland, England and the United States until 1968 when he was released from his priestly obligations.

He received an MA (1968) and MFA (1970) and Ph.D. (1971) from the University of Iowa. He taught writing courses at King Abdulaziz University (Saudi Arabia), Loyola University (Chicago), Columbia College, and Cochise College at various times between 1968 and his death in 1988.

During his career he won several writing awards including the Swallow's Tale Press award for short fiction in 1983 (for The Town of Ballymuck), Columbia University Translation Center Award (for Apple on the Treetop) and the Illinois Arts Council Literary Award (1980). ). His plays “Aisling ‘sna Comaraigh” (1959) and “Umar na hAimléise” (1961) both won the Oireachtas prize; “Blood brothers”, about the 1916 Easter rising, won the 1966 All-Ireland Drama Award.