In response to the feature “Six overlooked women authors to discover on International Women’s Day” in the Opinion section dated March 8th, I’d like to propose the inclusion of Winifred M Letts (1882-1972) to your list of female authors who are worthy of remembrance. Letts was notably the second woman after Lady Gregory, whose play had the honour of being performed at the Abbey Theatre. Quite remarkably, she is among the small fraction of female playwrights whose multiple plays have been staged at the historical venue.
Her books for children enjoyed sizeable popularity across multiple platforms, including radio broadcasts on Radio Éireann and BBC’s Children’s Hour, spanning the era from the 1930s up to the early part of the 1960s. Her extensive portfolio of published work comprises five poetry collections, seven young adult novels, six children’s books, three religious-themed books, a memoir titled ‘Knockmaroon’, and an impressive array of short stories, poems, essays and interviews, with one of her interviews being conducted by Maeve Binchy for The Irish Times in April 1969.
During an interview with this paper in November 1957, she humbly labelled herself as being “a period piece, a has been, totally unknown to this generation”. However, her contributions to literature are gradually turning heads. To appreciate her legacy and mark the 100th year of her demise, President Michael D Higgins graced a memorial event in June 2022. Furthermore, a Cuala Press print version of her poem ‘St Brigid’ – beautifully illustrated by her stepdaughter Kathleen Verschoyle, can now be seen in the Taoiseach’s office. Meanwhile, CV Stanford’s renditions of 13 of her ‘Songs from Leinster’ poems are currently on display in the Stanford Centenary Series at the National Concert Hall.
As an acknowledgment to her illustrious career an exhaustive biography – including the first comprehensive account of her entire life and works is slated for release later in the year. Alongside this, Lyric FM is planning to air a broadcast about her in the forthcoming months.
– Yours sincerely,
Bairbre O’Hogan,
Goatstown, Dublin 14.