Michael Harding was born in Cavan in 1953. He has published two novels, Priests (Blackstaff Press, 1986), and The Trouble With Sarah Gullion (Blackstaff Press, 1988); and the novella Bird in the Snow (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 2008). His plays are Strawboys (Dublin, The Abbey Theatre, Peacock stage, 1987); Una Pooka (The Peacock, 1989); Misogynist […]
Shane Harrison was born in Dublin. He graduated from the National College of Art and Design in the early ‘80s and has worked in television, advertising and as a freelance designer. His stories are collected as Blues Before Dawn (Dublin, Poolbeg Press, 1992) and The Benefits of Tobacco (Dublin, Forty Foot Press, 2007) He lives […]
Jack Harte was born in Sligo in 1944. His short stories collections are Murphy in the Underworld (Dublin, Glendale, 1986); Birds and Other Tails (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1996); Birds and Selected Stories (Opheus, Sophia, Bulgaria, 2001); and From Under Gogol’s Nose (Dublin, Scotus Press, 2004), accompanied by the CD Lament for the Birds, Sligo […]
Norma Harrs was born in Belfast. She has published one novel, A Certain State of Mind (Toronto, Virgo Press, 1980). Her short story collections are Love Minus One & Other Stories (Toronto, Hounslow Press, l994); and Where Dreams Have Gone (Toronto, Simon & Pierre, l997). Her plays are Essential Conflict (Harbourfront, Toronto, November, l985); The […]
Carole Hayman* is well known both as an award-winning actress and theatre director. Her first book was a comic novel, All the Best, Kim, which was serialized on Woman’s Hour, and which was followed by Ladies of Letters. She devised and co-wrote The Refuge which was shown on Channel 4, and also created the BBC […]
Aidan Higgins was born in Celbridge, Co Kildare in 1927. He has written short stories, travel pieces, radio drama and novels. His novels include Langrishe Go Down (London, Calder & Boyars, 1966), which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Irish Academy of Letters Award, and was filmed for television with a screenplay […]
Desmond Hogan was born in Ballinasloe, County Galway, in 1950. His novels are The Icon Maker (Dublin, Co-Op Books, 1976); The Leaves on Grey (London, Hamish Hamilton, 1980); A Curious Street (Hamish Hamilton, 1984); A New Shirt (Hamish Hamilton, 1986); and Farewell to Prague (London, Faber and Faber, 1995). His short story collections include Diamonds […]
John Jordan was born in Dublin in 1930. His poetry collections are Patrician Stations (Dublin, New Writers Press, 1971); A Raft from Flotsam (Dublin, The Gallery Press, 1975); Blood and Stations ([verse and autobiographical prose] The Gallery Press, 1976); With Whom Did I Share the Crystal (Meath, St Beuno’s, 1980); Collected Poems ([ed. with preface […]
Neil Jordan was born in Sligo in 1950. He has published one book of short stories, A Night in Tunisia (Co-Op Books, 1976), and the novels The Past (London, Jonathan Cape, 1980); The Dream of a Beast (Jonathan Cape, 1983); Sunrise and Seamonster (Jonathan Cape, 1995), Shade (London, Hodder Lir, 2004); and Mistaken (London, John […]
Michael Judge was born in Drumcondra, Dublin on 26 July 1921. He has written many uncollected stories, publishing these from 1941 to 1951. Amongst his many radio plays are The Cardboard Man (CBC, 1958); The Hungry One, (Radio Éireann, 1959); You Don’t Understand (CBC, 1959); Retribution (Radio Éireann, 1959); As Other Men (Radio Éireann, 1961); […]
Claire Keegan was born in Wexford in 1968. Her story collections are Antarctica (London, Faber and Faber, 1999/New York, Grove/Atlantic, 1999); Walk the Blue Fields (Faber and Faber, 2007/ Grove Press, Black Cat, 2008); and the single story Foster (Faber and Faber, 2010). Her awards include The Francis MacManus Award; The William Trevor Prize; the […]
Rita Kelly (var. Rita E. Kelly) was born in Galway in 1953. Her poetry has been collected as An Bealach Eadóigh (Baile Átha Cliath, Coiscéim, 1984; the bi-lingual Fare Well: Beir Beannacht (Dublin, The Attic Press, 1990); and Travelling West (Galway, Arlen House, 2000). Her short stories have been collected as The Whispering Arch and […]
Maeve Kelly was born in County Clare in 1930. Her short stories have been collected as A Life of Her Own (Dublin, Poolebeg, 1976); and Orange Horses (London, Michael Joseph, 1990. Her novels are Necessary Treasons (Michael Joseph, 1985); Florries Girls (Belfast, Blackstaff Press, 1991); and Alice in Thunderland (Fairytales for Feminists) (Dublin, Attic Press, […]
Adrian Kenny was born in Dublin in 1945. His fiction is Arcady & other Stories (Dublin, Writers Co-Op, 1983); The Feast of Michaelmas, a novel (Writer’s Co-Op, 1978); Before the Wax Hardened, an autobiographical novel (Dublin, Odell & Adair, 1991); a sequel to Before The Wax Hardened, the autobiographical novel The Family Business (Dublin, The […]
Benedict Kiely was born in 1919, near Dromore, Co Tyrone. His short stories collections include A Journey to the Seven Streams (London, Methuen 1963); A Ball of Malt and Madame Butterfly (London, Victor Gollancz 1973); A Cow in the House (London, Victor Gollancz, 1978); The State of Ireland: A Novella and Seven Short Stories (Boston, […]
Chuck Kruger, born in 1938, grew up in the Finger Lakes of upstate NY. His short story collections include Between A Rock (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2005). His poetry collections are Sourcing (Bradshaw Books, 2008); and Island Alchemy (Bradshaw Books, 2010). His non-fiction includes Cape Clear Island Magic (Cork, The Collins Press, 1994) [reissued in 1995 […]
Anatoly Kudryavitsky (pen name of Antholy Kudryavitsky) was born in Moscow in 1954. His father was of Polish origin; his mother was a daughter of an Irishman from South Co. Mayo who died in Stalin’s Gulag. He is a member of the Russian Writers’ Union and Irish PEN, former President of the Russian Poetry Society […]
Mary Lavin was born in Massachusetts, USA, in 1912, but she lived in Ireland from 1921, at first in Athenry Co Galway, and later in Meath and Dublin. Her short story collections are Tales from Bective Bridge (Boston, Little, Brown, 1942; London, Michael Joseph, 1943; Dublin: Poolbeg Press, 1978; re-issued Dublin, Town and Country House, […]
James Lawless was born in Dublin. His novels are Peeling Oranges (Mullingar, Killynon House Books, 2007); For Love of Anna (New Generation, 2009); The Avenue (Galway, Wordsonthestreet, 2010); Finding Penelope (Stoney Stanton, UK, Indigo Dreams Publishing, 2012); and Knowing Women (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. His poetry collection is Rus in Urbe (Tralee, Doghouse, 2012). […]
Mary Leland was born in Cork in 1941. Her novels are The Killeen (London, Hamish Hamilton 1985); and Approaching Priests (London, Sinclair Stevenson 1991). She also published a collection of short stories entitled The Little Galloway Girls (London, Black Swan 1987). Her non-fiction includes Cork / Corcaigh: The Lie of the Land – a literary […]
Brian Leyden was born in Roscommon in 1960. He has published a book of short stories, Departures (1992); and a novel, Death and Plenty (Dingle, Brandon, 1996). He has devised and performed a one-man stage show on W.B. Yeats called Experiments in Magic, and his RTÉ documentary, No Meadows in Manhattan, won a Jacobs Award […]
Brian Lynch was born in Dublin in 1945. His novel is The Winner of Sorrow (Dublin, New Island Books, 2005), about the poet William Cowper (1731-1800). His poetry collections include Endsville (1967); No Die Cast (Dublin, New Writers Press, 1969); Outside the Pheasantry (Gorey, Funge Arts Centre, 1974); Perpetual Star (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1981); […]
Tom MacIntyre was born in Cavan in 1931. A dual-language writer, his poetry collections include Blood Relations: Versions of Gaelic Poems of the Seventeeth and Eighteenth Centuries (Dublin, New Writers’ Press, 1972); I Bailed Out at Ardee (Dublin, Dedalus Press, 1987); Fleur-du-Lit (Dublin, The Dedalus Press, 1994); A Glance Will Tell You and A Dream […]
John MacKenna was born in 1952 in Castledermot in Co Kildare. His short story collections include The Fallen and Other Stories (Belfast, The Blackstaff Press, 1992) which won The Irish Times First Fiction Award; A Year of Our Lives (London, Picador, 1995); and The River Field (Dublin, New Island Books, 2007). His novels are Clare […]
Bernard MacLaverty was born in Belfast in 1942. His novels include Lamb (London, Jonathan Cape 1980); Cal (London, Jonathan Cape, 1983); Grace Notes (London, Jonathan Cape, 1997), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize; and The Anatomy School (Jonathan Cape, 2001). Both Lamb and Cal were produced as films of the same name, and for […]
Bryan MacMahon was born in Listowel, Co Kerry in 1909. His plays include The Bugle in the Blood (Dublin, The Abbey Theatre, 1949); The Song of the Anvil (The Abbey Theatre, 1960); The Honey Spike (The Abbey Theatre, 1961); The Master; Jack Furey; The Death of Biddy Early; The Time of the Whitethorn and The […]
Eugene McCabe was born in Glasgow in July 1930 of Irish parents. His published plays for stage include King of the Castle (Dublin, The Gallery Press/Newark, Proscenium, 1978); and his one-act plays Pull Down a Horseman/Gale Day (Dublin, Gallery, 1979). His plays for TV include Roma (Dublin, Turoe & RTÉ, 1979); and his trilogy Victims, […]
Molly McCloskey was born in 1964 in Philadelphia, and moved to Ireland in 1989. She has published the collection of short stories, Solomon’s Seal (London, Phoenix House, 1997); The Beautiful Changes, a novella and four short stories (Dublin, The Lilliput Press, 2002); and a novel, Protection (Dublin, Penguin, 2005). Her memoir is Circles around the […]
Colum McCann was born in Dublin in 1965. His stories include Fishing the Sloe Black River (London, Pheonix House, 1994/ New York, Metropolitan Books/Henry Holt and Company, 1996). His novels are Song Dogs, (Pheonix House, 1995; New York, Henry Holt, 1995); This Side of Brightness (London, Orion, 1998/ New York, Metropolitan Books, 1998); Everything In […]
Mike McCormack was born in London in 1965, but grew up in Sligo. His stories are collected as Getting it in the Head (London, Jonathan Cape, 1965), for which he won the Rooney Prize; and Forensic Songs (Dublin, Lilliput, 2012). His novels are Crowe’s Requiem (Jonathan Cape, 1998); and Notes from a Coma (Jonathan Cape, […]
John McGahern was born in Dublin in 1934, but moved to Leitrim as a child. His novels are The Barracks (London, Faber & Faber, 1963); The Dark (Faber & Faber, 1965); The Leavetaking (Faber & Faber, 1975) The Pornographer (Faber & Faber, 1980), Amongst Women (Faber & Faber, 1990); and That They May Face The […]
Alan McMonagle was born in Sligo and grew up in Longford. His first collection of short stories is Liar, Liar (Wordsonthestreet Press, October 2008). His stories have appeared in many journals. He lives in Galway. Alan McGonagle at Wordsonthestreet
Blánaid McKinney was born in Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh, in 1961. She has published one short story collection, Big Mouth (London, Pheonix House, 2000); and a novel, The Ledge (Pheonix House, 2002). She lives in London. Blánaid McKinney at The National Library of Ireland
Michael McLaverty was born in July, 1904, at Carrrickmacross, Co. Monaghan, and was partly raised on Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim, before moving to Belfast, where he taught for many years. His novels are Call My Brother Back (London & New York, Longmans, Green 1939); Lost Fields (New York & Toronto, Longmans, Green 1941); In This […]
Eoin McNamee was born in Kilkeel, Co Down, in 1961. He has written two novellas, The Last of Deeds, (Raven Arts Press, Dublin),which was shortlisted for the 1989 Irish Times/Aer Lingus Award for Irish Literature; and Love in History. His novels are Resurrection Man (London, Picador,1994); The Blue Tango (London, Faber & Faber, 2001); The […]
George McWhirter was born in Belfast in 1939 and left to live in Spain in 1965. His poetry collections include Catalan Poems (Ottawa, Oberon Press, 1971), which shared the Commonwealth Prize for Poetry with Chinua Achebe in 1972; Queen of the Sea (Oberon Press, 1976); The Island Man ( Oberon Press, 1981); Fire Before Dark […]
Walter Macken was born on May 3rd, 1915, in Galway. Originally an actor, principally with the Tadhbhearc in Galway, and The Abbey Theatre, he played lead roles on Broadway in MJ Molloy‘s The King of Friday’s Men and his own play Home is the Hero. He also acted in films, notably in Brendan Behan’s The […]
Aisling Maguire was born in Dublin in 1958. Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies, including Raven Introductions 4 (Dublin, Raven Arts Press, 1986); The Dolmen Book of Short Stories (Mountrath, 1986); Volumes One and Two of The Blackstaff Book of Short Stories (Belfast, 1988 and 1991); and Figures in a Landscape: Writing from […]
John Maher was born in Dublin in 1954. His stories are collected as The Coast of Malabar (Dublin, O’Brien Press, 1998). His novels as John Maher are The Luckpenny (Dingle, Brandon / Mount Eagle Publications, 2007); and Rondo: The memoirs of Dr Josef Divonne, Late of 2me Lyon, Lower Europe (Roscrea, The Pilgrim Press, 2011). […]
Martin Malone was born in Dublin. His novels are US (Dublin, Poolebeg, 2000); After Kafra (Poolebeg, 2001); The Broken Cedar (London, Scribner, 2003); and Moore’s Bridge (Dublin, New Island Books, 2008). His short stories are collected as The Mango War and Other Stories (New Island Books, 2009). His short stories have been published and broadcast […]
Aidan Mathews (var. Aidan Carl Mathews) was born in 1956 in Dublin. His poetry collections include Windfalls (Dublin, The Dolmen Press, 1977); Minding Ruth (Loughcrew, The Gallery Press, 1983); and According to the Small Hours (London, Jonathan Cape, 1998). His plays are The Diamond Body (Project Theatre, Dubin); Entrance, Exit (The Peacock Theatre, Dublin); and […]
Susan Millar DuMars was born in Philadelphia in 1966. The first full collection of her poetry is Big Pink Umbrella (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon Poetry, 2008); and Dreams for Breakfast (Salmon Poetry, 2010). Her short stories have been published as American Girls (Belfast, Lapwing, 2007). In 2005 she received an Irish Arts Council Bursary for […]
Geraldine Mills was born in Galway. Her poetry collections are Unearthing Your Own (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2001; Toil the Dark Harvest (Cork, Bradshaw Books, 2004); The Weight of Feathers (Galway, Arlen House, 2009); and An Urgency Of Stars (Arlen House, 2009). Her short story collections are Lick of the Lizard (Arlen House, 2006); and Weight […]
Sam Millar was born in Belfast in 1955. He novels are Dark Souls (Galway, Wynkin deWorde, 2003); Redemption Factory (Dingle, Brandon / Mount Eagle Publications, 2005/New York, Thunder’s Mouth Press, 2006); Bloodstorm (Brandon, 2008); and The Darkness of Bones (Brandon, 2006). His autobiography is On The Brinks (Wynkin de Worde, 2003). A winner of the […]
Frances Molloy was born in Derry in 1947. She left school at fifteen and was a nun for a time, before moving to Lancaster, England. She published one novel, No Mate for the Magpie (London, Virago, 1985), before returning to Ireland. Her short stories are collected as Women Are the Scourge of the Earth: Collected […]
Stephen Moran was born in Dublin in 1954. His first book is a short story collection, The London Silence (Pretend Genius Press, 2004). He is a contributing editor to online journals Sloe Wine and The Willesden Herald. He lives in London. Stephen Moran’s Blog Interview at Author Trek
Mary Morrissy was born in Dublin in 1957. She has published one collection of short stories, A Lazy Eye (London, Jonathan Cape/ New York, Scribner, 1993). Her novels are Mother of Pearl (Scribner, 1995/Jonathan Cape, 1996); The Pretender (Jonathan Cape, 2000); and The Rising of Bella Casey (Dublin, Brandon, 2013). She won a Hennessy Award […]
Helena Mulkerns was born in Dublin but has lived abroad for much of her life. Her last posting was in Kabul with the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan in 2007. She was nominated for the Sunday Tribune Hennessy Literary Awards in 1991. She has published a total of fifteen short stories since then, and has […]
Val Mulkerns was born in Dublin in 1925. Her novels include The Time Outwork (London, Chatto and Windus, 1951/New York,The Devin-Adair Company, 1952); A Peacock Cry (London, Hodder, 1954); The Summerhouse (London, John Murray, 1984); and Very Like a Whale (Murray, 1986). includes the short story collections Antiquities (London, Deutch, 1978); An Idle Woman (Dublin, […]
Nuala Ní Chonchúir was born in Dublin in 1970. Her poetry collections are Tatoo : Tatú (Galway, Arlen House, 2007, previously collected as Molly’s Daughter, in ¡DIVAS! Series (Galway, Arlen House, 2003); Portrait of the Artist with a Red Car (Templar Poetry, 2009); and The Juno Charm (Cliffs of Moher, Salmon, 2011). Her story collections […]
Éilís Ní Dhuibhne was born in Dublin in 1954. Her novels are The Bray House (Dublin, Attic Press, 1990); Singles (Dublin, Attic Press, 1992); The Dancers Dancing (Belfast, The Blackstaff Press, 1999/London Headline Review, 2001),which was shortlisted for the 2000 Orange Prize; and Fox, Swallow, Scarecrow (The Blackstaff Press, 2007); and Dún an Airgid (Dublin, […]
Edna O’Brien was born in Co Clare. Her novels include The Country Girls (London, Hutchinson & Company 1960); The Lonely Girl (London, Jonathan Cape, 1962 – published in paperback as Girl With Green Eyes, London, Penguin Books, 1964); Girls in their Married Bliss (Jonathan Cape, 1963); August is a Wicked Month (1964); Casualties of Peace […]
Philip Ó Ceallaigh was born in County Waterford. His story collections are Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse (London/Dublin, Penguin Ireland, 2006), for which he was awarded the Rooney Prize for Literature in 2006; and The Pleasant Light of Day (Penguin Ireland, 2009). He has lived and worked in Britain, Spain, Russia, the US, Kosovo, Georgia […]
Frank O’Connor (pen name of Michael O’Donovan) was born in Cork City on September 17, 1903. There is a poignant description of his childhood in the first volume of his autobiography An Only Child. He published two novels, The Saint and Mary Kate (Macmillan, London 1932, 1936/New York 1932 – Blackstaff, Belfast 1990); and Dutch […]
Joseph O’Connor image was born in Dublin in 1963. His novels are Cowboys and Indians (London, Sinclair-Stevenson, 1991), which was short listed for The Whitbread Prize; Desperadoes (London, Flamingo, 1993); The Salesman (London, Secker & Warburg, 1998); Inishowen (Secker & Warburg, 2000); Star of the Sea (Secker & Warburg, 2002/New York, Harcourt Books, 2003); Redemption […]
Karen O’Connor was born in Millstreet, Co. Cork in 1965. Her collections are Fingerprints (On Canvas) (Tralee, Co Kerry, Doghouse, 2005); and Between The Lines (Doghouse, 2011). She is winner of the Nora Fahy Literary Award (short story), the End of Festival Slam at the West Cork Literary Festival and the Listowel Writers Week Single […]
Seán Ó Faoláin was born in Cork in 1900. He was baptized as John Whelan, but adapted the Irish form of his name, which is in turn anglicized to Sean O’Faolain. He fought with the Republican side in the Irish Civil War, and taught in the U.S. in the 1930s. He edited the literary journal […]
Liam O’Flaherty was born at Gort na gCapall, Inishmór, the largest of the Aran Islands, in 1896. He wrote in English and Irish. His main works include the novels Thy Neighbour’s Wife (London, Jonathan Cape, 1923); The Black Soul (Jonathan Cape, 1924); The Informer (Jonathan Cape, 1925), which was made into a film of the […]
Colm O’Gaora was born in Dublin in 1966. His short stories have been widely published and broadcast and have been been collected in Giving Ground (London, Jonathan Cape, 1993). His novels are A Crooked Field (London, Picador, 1999); and Another Sky (Picador, 2003). He lives in Dublin. Colm O’Gaora at Facebook Colm O’Gaora at The […]
Sheila O’Hagan’s began writing in 1984 while studying at Birkbeck College, London University. In 1988 she won the Goldsmith Award for Poetry, and in 1990 returned to her native Dublin. Her collections are The Peacock’s Eye (Salmon Publishing, 1992); The Troubled House (Salmon Publishing, 1995); and Along the Liffey: Poems & Short Stories (Salmon Poetry, […]
