Rob Doyle was born in Dublin. His first novel is Here Are the Young Men (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 2014). His fiction, essays, and criticism have appeared in The Dublin Review, The Stinging Fly, Gorse, The Moth, The Penny Dreadful and elsewhere. His work has appeared on RTÉ national radio and the BBC World Service, […]
Paul Lynch was born in Limerick in 1977, and grew up in Donegal. His novels are Red Sky in Morning (London, Quercus, 2013/New York, Little Brown, 2013); and The Black Snow (Quercus, 2014). He was the chief film critic of The Sunday Tribune newspaper from 2007 to 2011, when the newspaper folded. He has written […]
Alannah Hopkin’s novels are A Joke Goes a Long Way in the Country (London, Hamish Hamilton/New York, Atheneum, 1982); and The Out-haul (London, Hamish Hamilton, 1985). Her non-fiction includes The Living Legend Of Saint Patrick (London, Grafton Books/New York, St Martin’s Press, 1989); Inside Cork (Cork, The Collins Press, 1991); Eating Scenery: West Cork, The […]
Orna Ross was born Aine McCarthy in Waterford in 1960 and grew up in Co Wexford. Her novels are Lovers Hollow (Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2004); and Dance in Time (Penguin Ireland, 2008), both of which have been reissued under the author’s independent imprint as After the Rising (Font Publications, 2011) and Before the Fall (Font […]
Patrick MacGill was born into a farming family near Glenties in the parish of Inishkeel, Co Donegal in 1889. When he was twelve years of age he went to the Hiring Fair in Strabane Co.Tyrone and hired with a farmer. When he had worked two years as a farm labourer he absconded to Scotland with […]
Gavin Corbett was born in the west of Ireland and grew up in Dublin. His novels are Innocence (New York/London, Pocket, 2003) and This is the Way (London, Fourth Estate/New York, Faber, 2013), for which he received the 2013 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year. He lives in New York. Gavin Corbett at Janklow […]
Niamh Boyce is from Athy, Co Kildare. Her debut novel is The Herbalist (Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2013). She was awarded the Hennessy XO New Irish Writer of the Year 2012 for her poem Kitty, and has been shortlisted for the Francis McManus Short Story competition 2011, the Hennessy Literary Awards 2010, the Molly Keane Award […]
Anne-Marie Casey was a script editor and producer of prime-time television drama for ten years before becoming a writer full time. She has written scripts for films and television series in the UK and Ireland and her stage adaptation of Little Women was staged at the Gate Theatre in Dublin in 2011. Her first novel […]
Patrick McCabe was born in Clones, Co Monaghan in 1955. He has published a children’s story, The Adventures of Shay Mouse (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1985), and the adult novels Music On Clinton Street (Raven, 1986); Carna (London, Aidan Ellis, 1989); The Butcher Boy (London, Picador, 1992), which was the winner of The Irish Times/Aer […]
Eimear McBride was born in Liverpool but moved to Ireland when she was three. She grew up in Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo and Castlebar, Co. Mayo, before moving to London aged 17 to study at The Drama Centre. Her debut novel is A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing (Norwich, Galley Beggar Press, 2013). She currently lives […]
Catherine Barry was born in 1963 in Dublin. Her novels are The House That Jack Built (London, Simon & Schuster, 2001); Null & Void (Simon & Schuster, 2002); and Skindeep (Simon & Schuster, 2004). Her non-fiction is Charlie & Me (Dublin, New Island books, 2011). She lives in Dublin. Catherine Barry on Facebook Catherine Barry: […]
Ciarán Collins was born in Cork in 1977 and grew up in the village of Innishannon, Co. Cork. His debut novel is The Gamal (London, Bloomsbury, 2013/New York, Bloomsbury, 2013). He lives in Kinsale with his wife and has one daughter. Ciarán Collins’ website
Monk Gibbon was born in Dublin in 1896. He studied in Oxford from 1915 but the following year year joined the British Army and served in France. On leave in Dublin in Easter, 1916, he was involved in the incident in the Irish Rising when Major Francis Vane had Captain Colthurst court-martialed for the murder […]
Thy Tears Might Cease. Image source: Knopf 1st edition[/caption]Michael Farrell was born in Carlow in September 1899. He studied Medicine at University College Dublin but was imprisoned in Mountjoy Jail for six months during the War of Independence. On release he embarked on a walking tour of Europe accompanied by young woman who had been […]
Jonathan Dunne was was born on the North Strand, in Dublin’s north inner city in 1976. His novels are Academic Octagon (London, Local Legend Publishing, 2008); and Fia The Envoy (Somerset, UK, Netherworld Books 2012). He has published articles on various sportspeople, mainly martial artists and is currently a columnist with the Irish Fighter Magazine. […]
Laura Elliot is the author of three novels, Stolen Child (London, Avon HarperCollins, 2009) and The Prodigal Sister (Avon HarperCollins, 2010), both also published as e-books; and Deceptions (e-published by JuneConsidine, 2012). Her novels have been widely translated and she has ghost written a number of high profile non-fiction books. Aka June Considine, she is […]
Annemarie Neary was born in Co. Down. Her debut novel is A Parachute in the Lime Tree (Dublin, The History Press Ireland, 2012). Short story awards include the Bryan MacMahon award (Listowel Writers’ Week), prizes from Bridport and Fish, and the Columbia Journal contest in the US. A former lawyer, she lives in London. Annemarie […]
Ciaran O’Driscoll was born in Kilkenny in 1943. His poetry collections include Gog and Magog (Galway, Salmon, 1987); The Poet and His Shadow (Dublin, Dedalus, 1990); Listening to Different Drummers (Dedalus, 1993); The Old Women of Magione (Dedalus, 1997); Moving On, Still There: New and Selected Poems (Dedalus, 2001); and Surreal Man (Brighton, UK, Pighog […]
Noel Duffy was born in Dublin in 1971. His poetry is collected as The Silence After (South Tipperary Arts Centre & Start Magazine, 2003); for which he was awarded the START Chapbook Prize for Poetry, and more recently the Firewords Poetry Award; In The Library Of Lost Objects (London, Ward Wood Publishing, 2011); and On […]
Shauna Gilligan was born in Dublin in 1972. Her debut novel is Happiness Comes from Nowhere (London, Ward Wood, 2012). Having lived in Mexico, Spain and the UK, she currently resides in County Kildare. Shauna’s Page on Publisher’s Website Shauna’s Website
Lisa Burkitt was born in the USA to Irish parents, and grew up in Donegal. Her debut novel is The Memory of Scent (Dublin/Gloucestershire, UK, The History Press, 2012). Her stories have been anthologised in the Faber Book of Best New Irish Short Stories (London, Faber & Faber, 2008); Queens Noir (New York, Akashic Books, […]
David Murphy was born in Cork. A science-fiction writer, his first collection of stories was published as Lost Notes (Aeon Press, Dublin, 2004), which won the inaugural Maurice Walsh Memorial Award in 2005. His novels are the Arkon Chronicles (Pennsylvania, Silver Lake Publishing, 2003); and Longevity City (Michigan, Five Star, 2005); and the novella Bird […]
Alex Hijmans was born in Heemskerk in Holland In 1975. He moved to Ireland when he was twenty years old and learned Irish as part of his degree in Celtic Studies, before spending a twelve year period in Galway working in various Irish-language media. His main literary works to date have been written and published […]
Alan Monaghan was born in Dublin in 1980. His novels are The Soldier’s Song (London, Pan MacMillan, 2010); The Soldier’s Return (Pan MacMillan, 2011); and The Soldier’s Farewell (Pan MacMillan, 2012). He won the Hennessy New Irish Writing Award and the Prize for Emerging Fiction in 2002. He lives in Dublin FESTIVAL DU PREMIER ROMAN […]
Gabrielle Alioth was born in 1955 in Basel, Switzerland, and emigrated to Ireland in 1984. Her novels are Der Narr ([The Fool], Zurich, Nagel & Kimche, 1990); Wie ein kostbarer Stein ([Like a Precious Stone)Nagel & Kimche, 1994); Die Arche der Frauen ([Women’s Arch] Nagel & Kimche, 1996); and Die stumme Reiterin ([The Silent Rider]Nagel […]
Keith Baker is the author of contemporary thrillers, including Inheritance (London, Headline, 1996); Reckoning (Headline, 1998); Engram (Headline, 1999) and Lunenburg (Headline, 2000). Inheritance won a WH Smith Fresh Talent Award in 1996 and is on the contemporary fiction syllabus at Queen’s University, Belfast. He is a former Head of News and Current Affairs for […]
John Banville was born in Wexford in 1945. His novels are Long Lankin ([nine short stories and the novella, The Possessed], London, Secker & Warburg, 1970); Nightspawn (Secker & Warburg, New York/ WW Norton, 1971); Birchwood (Secker & Warburg/WW Norton, 1973); Dr Copernicus (London, Martin Secker & Warburg, 1976); Kepler (Martin Secker & Warburg, 1981); […]
Vincent Banville was born in Wexford in 1940. His novels include An End to Flight (London, Faber and Faber, 1973, originally published under the pen name Vincent Lawrence, reprinted, author Vincent Banville, Dublin, New Island Books, 2002); Death by Design (Dublin, The Wolfhound Press, 1993); Death the Pale Rider (Dublin, Poolbeg, 1995); and Cannon Law […]
Leland Bardwell was born in India of Irish parents in 1922 and was brought to Ireland at the age of two. Her collections of poetry are The Mad Cyclist (Dublin, New Writers’ Press, 1970); The Fly and the Bedbug (Dublin, Beaver Row Press, 1984); Dostoevsky’s Grave, New and Selected Poems (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1991); […]
Kevin Barry was born in Limerick in 1969. His story collections are There Are Little Kingdoms (Dublin, Stinging Fly Press, 2007), which featured as a book of the year in both The Sunday Tribune and The Irish Times and was awarded the 2007 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature; and Dark Lies the Island (London, Jonathan […]
Sebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. His plays are The Pentagonal Dream (Damer Theatre 1986); Boss Grady’s Boys (Abbey Theatre, Peacock stage, Dublin 1988), which won the first BBC/Stewart Parker Award; Prayers of Sherkin (Abbey Theatre, Peacock stage, Dublin 1990, where he was Ansbacher Writer-in-Residence); White Woman Street (Bush Theatre, London 1992); The […]
Colin Bateman was born in Co Down in 1962. He has written fifteen novels, amongst them being Divorcing Jack (London, Arcade Publishing, 1995); Cycle of Violence (London, Harper Collins,1995); Of Wee Sweetie Mice and Men (Harper Collins, 1996) Empire State (London, Harper Collins, 1997); Turbelent Priests (Harper Collins, 1999) and Belfast Confidential (London, Headline, 2005). […]
Mary Beckett was born in Belfast in 1926. She began writing in her twenties, first for the BBC, and then for literary magazines. Her stories are collected as A Belfast Woman (Dublin, Poolbeg, 1980/New York, William Morrow, Beechtree Books, 1998); and A Literary Woman (London, Bloomsbury, 1990). Her novel is Give Them Stones (Bloomsbury, 1987/New […]
Samuel Beckett was born in Foxrock, Co Dublin in 1906. His fiction includes More Pricks Than Kicks (London, Chatto and Windus, 1934); Murphy (London, G. Routledge, 1938); Molloy (Paris, Les Editions de Minuit 1951); English translation as Molloy by Samuel Beckett and Patrick Bowles. (Paris, Olympia Press, 1955); Malone Meurt (Paris, Les Editions de Minuit […]
Brendan Behan (known in Irish as Breandán Ó Beacháin) was born in Dublin in 1923. He served in Borstal (juvenile prison) for his activities in the IRA, and his experiences formed the background for his most important work. His plays are The Quare Fellow (Dublin, The Pike Theatre, 1954/London, Theatre Royal, 1956[the famous production by […]
Gerard Beirne was born in 1962. His novels are The Eskimo in the Net (London, Marion Boyars, 2003); and Turtle (Ottawa, Oberon Press, 2009). His poetry collections are Digging My Own Grave (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1996); and Games of Chance – A Gambler’s Manual (Ottawa, Oberon Press, 2011). His short story, Sightings of Bono, […]
Sara Berkeley was born in Dublin in 1967. Her collections are Penn (Dublin, Raven Arts Press/Canada, Thistledown Press, 1986); Home Movie Nights (Raven Arts Press/Thistledown Press, 1989); Facts About Water, New and Selected Poems (Dublin, New Island Books/Canada, Thistledown Press/Newcastle Upon Tyne, Bloodaxe Books, 1994); Strawberry Thief (Oldcastle, Co Meath, The Gallery Press, 2005); and […]
Chris Binchy was born in Scotland in 1970. His novels are The Very Man (London, MacMillan, 2003); People Like Us (MacMillan, 2004); Open Handed (London, Penguin, 2008); and Five Days Apart (London, Harper, 2010). He has also published Lighthouse (Dublin, New Island Books, Open Door Series, 2008). He lives in Dublin. Chris Binchy at Culture […]
Dan Binchy was born in County Limerick in 1940. His novels are The Neon Madonna (London, Century, 1991); The Last Resort (Century, 1992); Fireballs (London, Century, Random House, 1993); and Loopy: A Novel of Golf and Ireland (New York, Thomas Dunne Books, 2005). He has also published Cover-up: The Disaster at Tuskar Rock (Tralee, Mount […]
Maeve Binchy was born in Dublin in 1940. Her story collections are Central Line (Dublin, Ward River Press, 1977/London, Quartet, 1978); Victoria Line (Ward River Press/Quartet, 1980); Dublin 4 (Ward River Press/London, Century, 1983); and The Lilac Bus (Ward River Press, 1984/Century, 1986). Her novels are Light A Penny Candle (London, Century, 1982/New York, Viking, […]
Dermot Bolger was born in Finglas, North Dublin, in 1959. He founded Raven Arts Press, Dublin, where he was editor from 1979 to 1992. His novels are Night Shift, (Kerry, Brandon Books, 1982) ; The Woman’s Daughter, (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1987, revised and enlarged edition by Penguin, London 1991); The Journey Home (London,Viking, 1990/University […]
John Boyne was born in Dublin in 1971. His first short story was published by the Sunday Tribune and shortlisted for a Hennessy Literary Award. His novels for both adults and children are The Thief of Time (London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2000); The Congress of Rough Riders, a fictional recreation of the life of Buffalo […]
Elizabeth Bowen was born Elizabeth Dorothea Cole in Dublin in 1899, taking her literary name from the family home Bowen’s Court, in County Cork. Her novels include Encounters (London, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1923); The Hotel (London, Constable, 1927); The Last September (Constable, 1929); Friends and Relations (Constable, 1931); To the North (London, Gollancz, 1932); The […]
Clare Boylan was born in Dublin in 1948. She published four novels: Holy Pictures (London, Hamish Hamilton, 1993/ New York, Simon and Schuster 1983); Last Resorts (Hamish Hamilton, 1984 /Simon and Schuster, 1986); Black Baby (Hamish Hamilton, 1988 / New York, Doubleday 1989); Home Rule (Hamish Hamilton 1992). Her widely anthologised stories have been collected […]
James (Jimmy) Brennan was born in Dublin in 1944. He was a member of the Stanislavski Studio at Focus Theatre from 1967-1969. His novel is Seaman (Dublin, Irish Writers Co-Op,1978). His poems and stories have been published in Cyphers and the Irish Press. His one-act play was Blind Salad (Dublin, Focus Theatre, October 1979). He […]
Maeve Brennan was born in Dublin in 1917. Her father was Irish Ambassador to the United States and he brought his family there, including Maeve, in 1934. She settled in Manhattan and in 1949 joined the staff of the New Yorker, to which she contributed book reviews, fashion notes, essays and stories until 1973, when […]
John Broderick was born in Athlone in 1924. His novels include The Pilgrimage (London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson 1961), published in the U.S. as The Chameleons (N.Y. Ivan Obolensky, 1961); The Fugitives (London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1962); Don Juaneen (London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1963); The Waking of Willie Ryan (London, Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 1965); An Apology […]
Catherine Brophy was born in Dublin. Her novels are The Liberation of Margaret McCabe (Dublin, Wolfhound Press, 1985); and Dark Paradise (Wolfhound, 1992). She has also been a script writer for the long-running RTÉ series Fair City. She lives in Dublin. Catherine Brophy at The National Library of Ireland
Christy Brown was born in Crumlin, Dublin, in 1932. One of thirteen surviving children, he suffered from cerebral palsy and was considered mentally disabled until he famously snatched a piece of chalk from his sister with his left foot. His autobiography, My Left Foot (London, Secker & Warburg, 1954/New York, Simon & Schuster, 1955), was […]
Stephen Brown was born in Derry in 1972. His novels are Under the Devil Tree (Derry, Stephen Brown, 2004); The Green Book (Bucks., UK, White Leaf Press, 2009); His poetry is collected as The Ant and the Centaur (White Leaf Press, 2009). He lives near Oxford. Whiteleaf Press
Corinne de Laittre Browne, who writes under the name Corinne Browne, was born in 1945 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her non-fiction includes Body Shop, Recovering from Vietnam (New York, Stein & Day 1971); Confessions of a Fish Doctor [with Scott Brodie] (New York, Workmen Press, 1976); Time Bomb: Understanding the Threat of Nuclear Power (New York, […]
Trevor Byrne was born in Dublin in 1981. His debut novel is Ghosts and Lightning (Edinburgh, Canongate/New York, Doubleday 2009). He is currently a tutor of creative writing at Glamorgan University. Trevor Byrne at Curtis Brown Trevor Byrne at Canongate Excerpt from Ghosts and Lightning at Random House Trevor Byrne at The National Library of […]
Tony Cafferky was born in Dublin. He has published a novel, Baulox (Dingle, Brandon 1984); and Storia del Identito, short fiction in translation (Milan, 1988). He has had three stage plays produced: Corporation Flat, Cement and Potatoes. He was awarded the inaugural Brendan Behan Fellowship in 1981. He lives in Leitrim. Tony Cafferky at The […]
Mary Rose Callaghan was born in Dublin in 1944. Her novels include Mothers (Dublin, Arlen House 1982, London, Marian Boyars, 1984); Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter (London & New York, Marion Boyars, 1985); The Awkward Girl (Dublin, Attic Press, 1989); Has Anyone Seen Heather? (Attic Press, 1990); Emigrant Dreams (Dublin, Poolbeg Press, 1996), republished as […]
Joyce Cary was born Arthur Joyce Lunel in Derry City in 1888, the family home being Castle Cary in Inishowen, Co Donegal. He settled in Oxford in 1920, having been wounded during World War I. His Novels include Aissa Saved (London, Ernest Benn 1932); An American Visitor (Ernest Benn 1933); The African Witch (London, Victor […]
Kevin Casey was born in Kells, Co Meath in 1940. His novels are The Sinner’s Bell (London, Faber 1968); A Sense of Survival (Faber, 1974); Dreams of Revenge (Faber, 1977); and A State of Mind (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 2009). He lives in Dublin. Kevin Casey at Faber & Faber Kevin Casey at The National […]
Philip Casey was born to Irish parents in London in 1950 and grew up in Co Wexford. His verse collections are Those Distant Summers (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1980); After Thunder (Raven Arts Press, 1985); The Year of the Knife Poems 1980-1990, (Raven Arts Press Dublin, 1991); Dialogue in Fading Light/New and Selected Poems (Dublin, […]
William Carleton was born in Prillisk, Co Tyrone, in 1794 to small farmers, and was one of fourteen children. His father was fluent in Irish and English and was an accomplished story-teller, with, according to his son, an astonishing memory. His mother, Mary Kelly, was an accomplished singer in Irish, and was famous at wakes, […]
Ciaran Carson was born in Belfast in 1948. His poetry collections include The New Estate (Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1976) which won the Eric Gregory Award; The Irish for No (Oldcastle, Co Meath, The Gallery Press, 1987, and subsequently Wake Forest Press, USA/Bloodaxe Books, UK), which won the Alice Hunt Bartlett Award; Belfast Confetti (Gallery Books, […]
James Cheasty was born in Waterford in 1928. He is the author of a novel, The Captive (Dublin, 1965), and several plays, including A Stranger Came (Dublin, Progress House, 1956 [foreword by Teresa Deevey and notes on production]); The Lost Years (1958); Francey (Dublin, The Olympia Theatre, 1962, Illsley-McCabe Productions [Irish translation, 1964]); All Set […]
