Ireland writers as Charles Kickham, William Carleton, and (in collaboration) Edith Somerville and Violet Florence Martin. The playwright and poet Oscar Wilde, noted for his epigrams, was born in Ireland. In the 20th century, Ireland produced four winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature: George Bernard Shaw, William Butler Yeats, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Although not a Nobel Prize winner, James Joyce is widely considered to be one of the most significant writers of the 20th century. Joyce's 1922 novel "Ulysses" is considered one of the most important works of Modernist literature and his life is celebrated annually on 16
Nobel Prize in Literature Mark Twain were rejected in favor of authors little read today. During World War I and its immediate aftermath, the committee adopted a policy of neutrality, favouring writers from non-combatant countries. August Strindberg was repeatedly bypassed by the committee, but holds the singular distinction of being awarded an Anti-Nobel Prize, conferred by popular acclaim and national subscription and presented to him in 1912 by future prime minister Hjalmar Branting. James Joyce wrote the books that rank 1st and 3rd on the Modern Library 100 Best Novels – "Ulysses" and "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" – but Joyce