The Irish author William Trevor was last night presented with an honorary knighthood in Britain in recognition of his services to literature.
The award was presented by the Culture Secretary, Ms Tessa Jowell. Honorary KBEs do not require the recipient to kneel before Queen Elizabeth or another member of the royal family.
Mr Trevor is considered to be among the greatest living Irish writers of fiction. He is a prolific author of short stories and novels and has also adapted several of his own works for the stage, television and radio.
On presenting the award Ms Jowell said: "I am delighted to be able to present William with his KBE. The award of an honorary knighthood acknowledges the long and distinguished career of a very talented writer. He has produced an enormous body of work over nearly 40 years and won many of the most prestigious literary awards."
In 1977 Mr Trevor was made an honorary CBE. In 1999 he was awarded the prestigious David Cohen British Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime's literary achievement and in February this year received the Irish PEN/A.T. Cross Literary Award at a ceremony in Dublin in recognition of over 40 years of literary work.
Born in Mitchelstown, Co Cork, in 1928 and educated at TCD, he has lived and worked in England since the 1950s and now lives in Devon.
Over the last four decades Mr Trevor has written many novels, including his first, The Old Boys, winner of the Hawthornden Prize; The Children of Dynmouth and Fools of Fortune, both winners of the Whitbread Fiction Award.
His latest novel, The Story of Lucy Gault, was shortlisted for the 2002 Booker Prize for Fiction and Whitbread Prize.