Shelagh Delaney

Shelagh Delaney

Shelagh Delaney (25 November 1938 – 20 November 2011) was an English dramatist and screenwriter, best known for her debut work, A Taste of Honey (1958).

Cover star: Girlfriend In A Coma, Louder Than Bombs.

A clip from Shelagh Delaney's Salford was used as one of the tour intermission videos in 2008 and 2009.

Shelagh Delaney is listed as a one of the "Heroes" in the Morrissey questionnaire culled from Meat Is Murder Tour Programme.

From an interview with Morrissey in NME, June 7, 1986 ("Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" - interview by Ian Pye):

What he objects to are those smug anal retentives who think they've found you out and denounce your entire canon of work as tainted by theft. "Obviously most people who write do borrow from other sources," he contends. "They steal from other's clothes lines. I mentioned the line 'I dreamt about you last night and I fell out of bed twice' in 'Reel Around The Fountain,' which comes directly from A Taste Of Honey, and to this day I'm whipped persistently for the use of that line.

"I've never made any secret of the fact that at least 50 percent of my reason for writing can be blamed on Shelagh Delaney who wrote A Taste Of Honey. And 'This Night Has Opened My Eyes' is a Taste Of Honey song - putting the entire play to words. But I have never in my life made any secrets of my reference points.

"Just because there's one line that's a direct lift people will now say to me that 'Reel Around The Fountain' is worthless, ignoring the rest of it which almost certainly comes from my brain. Oscar Wilde... I've found so many instances where he has directly lifted from others. To me that's fine. But because I'm so serious about writing, people are so serious about tripping me up."

From an interview in Graffiti, October 1986 ("Morrissey Makes Six Points" - interview by Mike Allen):

Are the Smiths literate?
I've read everything. I've read everything twice. There is one writer I don't think you over here have heard of -- Shelagh Delaney, who came from Manchester in the late '50s. The most famous thing she wrote -- at the age of 19 -- was A Taste Of Honey. It was made into a hugely successful motion picture. She has inspired me more than anybody. I also have a vast collection of Oscar Wilde. I find him endlessly fascinating. I found a first edition here, it cost me $35.