The Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters is France's highest cultural distinction and it rewards the talent of Edna O’Brien, a woman of letters, and the struggle of a committed feminist who offered a voice to women around the world, and who is recognised by many as one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century.

Writer Colum McCann, actor Gabriel Byrne, and George Heslin, Executive Director of the New York Irish Center, will join Minister Roselyne Bachelot in paying tribute to Edna O’Brien