This is a list of writers born or who have lived in Northern Ireland. __NOTOC__

B

* Tony Bailie (born 1962) * Jo Bannister (born 1951) *

Colin Bateman Colin Bateman (known Mononymous person, mononymously as Bateman) is a novelist, screenwriter and former journalist from Bangor, County Down, Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Biography Born on 13 June 1962, Bateman attended Bangor Grammar ...

(born 1962) *

Ronan Bennett Ronan Bennett (born 14 January 1956) is an Irish novelist and screenwriter. Background Bennett, the son of William H. and Geraldine Bennett, was born in England, but was raised in Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, in a devout Roman Catholic Churc ...

(born 1956) *

Maureen Boyle Maureen Boyle (born 1961) is a Northern Irish poet. Biography Maureen Boyle was born and raised near Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. She studied English at Trinity College, Dublin, graduating B.A in 1984. Her poems have been pu ...

(born 1961) *

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus t ...

(born 1960) *

Colette Bryce Colette Bryce is a poet, freelance writer, and editor. She was a Fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Dundee from 2003 to 2005, and a North East Literary Fellow at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne from 2005 to 2007. She was the ...

(born 1970) *

Eve Bunting Anne Evelyn Bunting (née Bolton) (born December 19, 1928), also known as Eve Bunting, is a Northern Ireland-born American writer of more than 250 books. Her work covers a broad array of subjects and includes fiction and non-fiction books. Her no ...

(born 1928) * James Burke (born 1936) *

Anna Burns Anna Burns FRSL (born 7 March 1962) is an author from Northern Ireland. Her novel ''Milkman'' won the 2018 Booker Prize, the 2019 Orwell Prize for political fiction, and the 2020 International Dublin Literary Award. Biography She was born in B ...

(born 1962)

C

Lucy Caldwell Lucy Caldwell (born 1981) is a Northern Irish playwright and novelist. She was the winner of the 2021 BBC National Short Story Award. Biography Born in Belfast in 1981 in what she later described as into one of the darkest and most turbulent y ...

(born 1982) *

Joseph Campbell Joseph John Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the ...

(1879–1944) *

William Carleton William Carleton (4 March 1794, Prolusk (often spelt as Prillisk as on his gravestone), Clogher, County Tyrone – 30 January 1869, Sandford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin) was an Irish writer and novelist. He is best known for his ''Traits and Sto ...

(novelist) (1794–1869) *

Thomas Carnduff Thomas Carnduff, writer, was born on 30 January 1886 in Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on ...

(1886–1956) * Ciarán Carson (1948–2019) *

Joyce Cary Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary (7 December 1888 – 29 March 1957) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and colonial official. Early life and education Arthur Joyce Lunel Cary was born in his grandparents' home, above the Belfast Bank in Derry, Ireland in 1 ...

(1888–1957) *

James Cousins James Henry Cousins (22 July 1873 – 20 February 1956) was an Anglo-Irish writer, playwright, actor, critic, editor, teacher and poet. He used several pseudonyms, including Mac Oisín and the Hindu name Jayaram. Life Cousins was born at 18, Ke ...

(1873–1956) *

Kathleen Coyle Kathleen Coyle (23 October 1886 – 25 March 1952) was an Irish novelist, best known for her autobiographical work. Early life Kathleen Coyle was born in Derry on 23 October 1886. She was the eldest child of John and Catherine Coyle (née ...

(1886–1952) *

Mairtín Crawford Mairtín Crawford (25 November 1967 – 11 January 2004) was a poet and journalist who was born and educated in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was educated at Rathmore Grammar School and then Queen's University Belfast. He co-founded and edited ...

(1967–2004) *

Sam Cree Samuel Raymond Cree (1928–1980) was a Northern Irish playwright. During the 1960s and 1970s he wrote several long running and popular plays for comedians James Young and Jimmy Logan. His plays remain a favourite with Northern Ireland audienc ...

(1928–1980) * Eric Cross (1905–1980)

D

Gerald Dawe Gerald Dawe (born 1952) is an Irish poet. Early life Gerald Dawe was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and grew up with his mother, sister and grandmother. He attended Orangefield High School across the city in East Belfast, a leading progres ...

(born 1952) *

Seamus Deane Seamus Francis Deane (9 February 194012 May 2021) was an Irish poet, novelist, critic, and intellectual historian. He was noted for his debut novel, ''Reading in the Dark'', which won several literary awards and was nominated for the Booker Pri ...

(1940–2021) *

Anne Devlin Anne Devlin (1780 – 1 September 1851) was an Irish republican who in 1803, while his ostensible housekeeper, conspired with Robert Emmet, and with her cousin, the rebel outlaw Michael Dwyer to renew the United Irish insurrection against the ...

(born 1951) * Susannah Dickey *

Richard Doherty James Richard Doherty (born 19 May 1948), known as Richard Doherty, is a British military historian and author from County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. Educated at St. Columb's College, he has written more than twenty books about British and I ...

Moyra Donaldson Moyra Donaldson (born 1956) is a poet and short story writer from Northern Ireland. Early life and education Moyra Donaldson was born in 1956 in, Newtownards, County Down. She attended Queen's University Belfast and the University of Ulster. ...

(born 1956) * Charles Donnelly (1914–1937) * John Dougherty (born 1964) *

Garbhan Downey Garbhan Downey (born 24 February 1966) is a novelist and editor from Derry, Northern Ireland. He is the former Director of Communications and Marketing for Culture Company 2013, which delivered Derry's City of Culture year. Biography Derry-bo ...

E

St. John Greer Ervine St John Greer Ervine (28 December 1883 – 24 January 1971) was an Irish biographer, novelist, critic, dramatist, and theatre manager. He was the most prominent Ulster writer of the early twentieth century and a major Irish dramatist whose work in ...

(1883–1971)

F

Padraic Fiacc Padraic Fiacc (born Patrick Joseph O'Connor; 15 April 1924 – 21 January 2019) was an Irish poet, and member of Aosdána, the exclusive Irish Arts Academy. Biographical information Born Patrick Joseph O'Connor in Belfast to Bernard and Annie ( ...

(1924–2019) * Leontia Flynn (born 1974) * Brendan Foley (born 1964) *

Brian Friel Brian Patrick Friel (c. 9 January 1929 – 2 October 2015) was an Irish dramatist, short story writer and founder of the Field Day Theatre Company. He had been considered one of the greatest living English-language dramatists. (subscription req ...

(1929–2015) * Seamus Finnegan (born 1949)

G

* Stephen Gilbert (1912–2010) *

Robert Greacen Robert Greacen (1920–2008) was an Irish poet and member of Aosdána. Born in Derry, Ireland, on 24 October 1920, he was educated at Methodist College Belfast and Trinity College Dublin. He died on 13 April 2008 in Dublin, Ireland. Greacen's ...

(1920–2008)

H

Sam Hanna Bell Sam Hanna Bell (16 October 1909 – 9 February 1990) was a Scottish-born Northern Irish novelist, short story writer, playwright, and broadcaster. Bell was born in Glasgow to Ulster Scots parents. Following the sudden death of his father in ...

(1909–1990) * Francis Harvey (1925–2014) *

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

(1939–2013) * John Hewitt (1907–1987) * Sir John Heygate, 4th Baronet (1903-1976) *

Gareth Higgins Gareth Higgins is a writer from Belfast, Northern Ireland now living in Asheville, North Carolina. He is the founding director of the Wild Goose Festival. He is a graduate in sociology from Queen's University of Belfast ( BA, PhD). He was a co- ...

(born 1975) *

Bulmer Hobson John Bulmer Hobson (14 January 1883 – 8 August 1969) was a leading member of the Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) before the Easter Rising in 1916.D.J. Hickey & J. E. Doherty, ''A New Dictionary of Irish History fro ...

(1882–1969)

J

Carolyn Jess-Cooke Carolyn Jess-Cooke (born 26 August 1978 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a poet and novelist from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Early life Carolyn Jess-Cooke was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1978. She was educated at The Queen's University ...

(born 1978) * Fred Johnston (born 1951)

K

* Brian Keenan (born 1950) * Brian Kennedy (born 1966) *

Benedict Kiely Benedict "Ben" Kiely (15 August 1919 – 9 February 2007) was an Irish writer and broadcaster from Omagh, County Tyrone. Early life Kiely was born near Dromore, County Tyrone and was a student at the Christian Brothers School in Omagh. In 193 ...

(1919–2007)

L

* Nick Laird (born 1975) *

Maurice Leitch Maurice Leitch MBE (born 5 July 1933) is an author born in Northern Ireland. Leitch's work includes novels, short stories, dramas, screenplays and radio and television documentaries. His first novel was ''The Liberty Lad'', published in 1965. H ...

(born 1933) *

Clive Staples Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, Oxford, Magdalen College, 1925–1 ...

(1898–1963) * Antonia Logue (born 1972) *

Michael Longley Michael Longley, (born 27 July 1939, Belfast, Northern Ireland), is an Anglo-Irish poet. Life and career One of twin boys, Michael Longley was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, to English parents, Longley was educated at the Royal Belfast A ...

(born 1939) *

Robert Wilson Lynd Robert Wilson Lynd (''Irish: Roibéard Ó Floinn''; 20 April 1879 – 6 October 1949) was an Irish writer, editor of poetry, urbane literary essayist, socialist and Irish nationalist. Early life He was born in Belfast to Robert John Lynd, a P ...

(1879–1949)

M

Bernard MacLaverty Bernard MacLaverty (born 14 September 1942) is an Irish fiction writer and novelist. His novels include ''Cal'' and ''Grace Notes''. He has written five books of short stories. Biography ''MacLaverty'' was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a ...

(born 1942) *

Louis MacNeice Frederick Louis MacNeice (12 September 1907 – 3 September 1963) was an Irish poet and playwright, and a member of the Auden Group, which also included W. H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Cecil Day-Lewis. MacNeice's body of work was widely a ...

(1907–1963) *

Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden (born 20 August 1960) is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Career Madden was born in Toomebridge, County Antrim and was educated at St Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt. She proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin (BA) and then to t ...

(born 1960) *

Derek Mahon Derek Mahon (23 November 1941 – 1 October 2020) was an Irish poet. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland but lived in a number of cities around the world. At his death it was noted that his, "influence in the Irish poetry community, lite ...

(1941–2020) * Philip MacCann (born 1967) *

Owen McCafferty Owen McCafferty (born 1961) is a playwright from Northern Ireland. Early life Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, McCafferty in 1961 he was brought up in London from the age of 1 until aged 10 when his parents returned to Belfast. He was educat ...

(born 1961) *

Eamonn McCann Eamonn McCann (born 10 March 1943) is an Irish politician, journalist, political activist, and former councillor from Derry, Northern Ireland. McCann was a People Before Profit (PBP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Foyle from 2016 ...

(born 1943) * Hugh McFadden *

Roy McFadden Roy McFadden (14 November 1921 – 15 September 1999) was a Northern Irish poet, editor, and lawyer. McFadden's first poem was published before he was thirteen. His earliest influences were from magazines and journals that his Father brought home, ...

(1921–1999) *

Medbh McGuckian Medbh McGuckian (born as Maeve McCaughan on 12 August 1950) is a poet from Northern Ireland. Biography She was born the third of six children as Maeve McCaughan to Hugh and Margaret McCaughan in North Belfast. Her father was a school headmaster ...

(born 1950) *

Christina McKenna Christina McKenna (born 1957) is a bestselling Irish author and novelist. She has written books that comprise the Tailorstown series. Early life McKenna grew up in Draperstown, Northern Ireland. She attended the Belfast College of Art where sh ...

Adrian McKinty Adrian McKinty is a Northern Irish writer of crime and mystery novels and young adult fiction, best known for his 2020 award-winning thriller, ''The Chain'', and the Sean Duffy novels set in Northern Ireland during The Troubles. He is a winner ...

David McKittrick David McKittrick (born 1949) is a Belfast-born journalist who has reported on Northern Ireland since 1971. Professional career McKittrick began his career as a reporter for the ''East Antrim Times''. He joined the ''Irish Times'' in 1973 as a r ...

(born 1949) *

Robert McLiam Wilson Robert McLiam Wilson (born Robert Wilson, 24 February 1964) is a Northern List of Irish novelists, Irish novelist. Biography He was born in the New Lodge, Belfast, New Lodge district of Belfast and then moved to Turf Lodge and other places in ...

(born 1966) *

Nigel McLoughlin Nigel McLoughlin (born 1968, Enniskillen, Northern Ireland) is a poet, editor and teacher. Education He received his early education at St Michael's College, Enniskillen. He holds a BA(Hons) in English from the University of London and a Diplom ...

(born 1968) *

George McWhirter George McWhirter (born September 26, 1939 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Irish-Canadian writer, translator, editor, teacher and Vancouver's first Poet Laureate. The son of a shipyard worker, George McWhirter was raised in a large extended f ...

(born 1939) *

Eoin McNamee Eoin McNamee (b.1961) is an Irish writer from Kilkeel, County Down, Northern Ireland who has written numerous novels and screenplays. He was awarded the Macauley Fellowship for Irish Literature in 1990. He lives in County Sligo. Career Novell ...

(born 1961) *

Sam Millar Sam Millar (born 1955) is a crime writer and playwright from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Millar was also a member of the Irish Republican Army from around the age of 15 after first seeing the events of Bloody Sunday and then, a few days after Blo ...

(born 1955) *

Alice Milligan Alice Letitia Milligan 'pseud.'' Iris Olkyrn(4 September 1865 – 13 April 1953) was an Irish writer and activist in Ireland's Celtic Revival; an advocate for the political and cultural participation of women; and a Protestant Irish national ...

(1865–1953) *

Gary Mitchell Gary Mitchell (born 3 May 1965) is a Northern Irish people, Northern Irish playwright. By the 2000s, he had become "one of the most talked about voices in European theatre ... whose political thrillers have arguably made him Northern Ireland's ...

(born 1965) *

Frances Molloy Ann Brady (née McGill;New Hibernia Review, vol. 21, no. 3, Autumn 2017, "No Way Out" of Ireland: Frances Molloy's ''No Mate for the Magpie'' and the Picaresque Novel, Jennifer M. Jeffers, p. 66 wrote as Frances Molloy) (12 January 1947 – 28 Ma ...

(1947–1991), novelist * Brian Moore (1921–1999) *

Sinéad Morrissey Sinéad Morrissey (born 24 April 1972 in Portadown, County Armagh) is a Northern Irish poet. In January 2014 she won the T. S. Eliot Prize for her fifth collection ''Parallax'' and in 2017 she won the Forward Prize for Poetry for her sixth coll ...

(born 1972) * Danny Morrison (born 1953) *

Paul Muldoon Paul Muldoon (born 20 June 1951) is an Irish poet. He has published more than thirty collections and won a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry and the T. S. Eliot Prize. At Princeton University he is currently both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 University Pr ...

(born 1951) * Paul Murray (born 1947) * Tony Macaulay (writer) (born 1963){{div col end

N

* Stuart Neville

O

Flann O'Brien Brian O'Nolan ( ga, Brian Ó Nualláin; 5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966), better known by his pen name Flann O'Brien, was an Irish civil service official, novelist, playwright and satirist, who is now considered a major figure in twentieth cen ...

(1911–1966) *

Conor O'Callaghan Conor O'Callaghan (born 1968) is an Irish novelist and poet. Biography O'Callaghan was born in Newry in 1968 and grew up in Dundalk. His first novel, ''Nothing on Earth'', was published to acclaim in 2016 and was shortlisted for the Kerry Grou ...

(born 1968) *

Malachi O'Doherty Malachi John O'Doherty (born 1951, Muff, County Donegal, Ireland) is a journalist, author and broadcaster in Northern Ireland. He is the producer and presenter of the audio blog ''Arts Talk''. Career O'Doherty was one of the longest runnin ...

(born 1951) *

Moira O'Neill Moira O'Neill was the pseudonym of Agnes Shakespeare Higginson (1864–1955), a popular Irish ethnicity, Irish-Canadians, Canadian poet who wrote ballads and other verse inspired by County Antrim, where she lived at Cushendun. In 1895, she and h ...

(1864–1955) *

Séamus Ó Néill Séamus Ó Néill, (died 1981), was an Irish writer from Clarkhill, Castlewellan, County Down, Ireland. Following a primary degree from Queen's University, Belfast, he did historical research under Eoin MacNeill at University College, Dublin ...

(1910–1986) *

Frank Ormsby Francis Arthur Ormsby (born 1947) is a Northern Irish author and poet. Life Frank Ormsby was born in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh. He was educated at St Michael's College, Enniskillen and then Queen's University Belfast. From 1976 until his ...

(born 1947) * James Orr (1770-1816)

David Park

Stewart Parker James Stewart Parker (20 October 1941 – 2 November 1988) was a Northern Irish poet and playwright. Biography He was born in Sydenham, Belfast, of a Protestant working-class family. His birthplace is marked by an Ulster History Circle blue ...

(1941–1988) *

Glenn Patterson Glenn Patterson (born 1961) is a writer from Belfast, best known as a novelist. Biography Patterson was born in Belfast where he attended Methodist College Belfast. He graduated from the University of East Anglia (BA, MA), where he was a produc ...

(born 1961) *

Tom Paulin Thomas Neilson Paulin (born 25 January 1949 in Leeds, England) is a Northern Irish poet and critic of film, music and literature. He lives in England, where he was the G. M. Young Lecturer in English Literature at Hertford College, Oxford. Earl ...

(born 1945) * William Peskett (born 1952)

Q

R

* Zane Radcliffe *

Christina Reid Christina Reid (12 March 1942 – 31 May 2015) was an Irish playwright. Life Reid was born in North Belfast. She left school in 1957 and married in 1963. She enrolled at Queen's University Belfast in 1981 but winning a BBC playwrighting competit ...

Forrest Reid Forrest Reid (born 24 June 1875, Belfast, Ireland; d. 4 January 1947, Warrenpoint, County Down, Northern Ireland) was an Irish novelist, literary critic and translator. He was, along with Hugh Walpole and J. M. Barrie, a leading pre-war novelist ...

(1875–1947) * Graham Reid (born 1945) * Amanda McKittrick Ross (1860–1939) * Richard Rowley (1877–1947) *

George William Russell George William Russell (10 April 1867 – 17 July 1935), who wrote with the pseudonym Æ (often written AE or A.E.), was an Irish writer, editor, critic, poet, painter and Irish nationalist. He was also a writer on mysticism, and a centra ...

(1867–1935)

S

Ian Sansom Ian Edward Sansom (born 3 December 1966 in Essex, England) is the author of the Mobile Library Mystery Series. As of 2016, he has written four books in a series that will comprise a projected forty-four novels. He is a frequent contributor to, a ...

(born 1966) *

Bob Shaw Robert Shaw (31 December 1931 – 11 February 1996) was a science fiction writer and fan from Northern Ireland, noted for his originality and wit. He won the Hugo Award for Best Fan Writer in 1979 and 1980. His short story "Light of Other Days" ...

(1931–1996) * George Shiels (1886–1949) * James Simmons (1933–2001) *

Geoffrey Squires Geoffrey Squires (born 16 November 1942, in Derry, Northern Ireland) is an Irish poet who works in what might loosely be termed the modernist tradition. Early life While born in Derry, he grew up in County Donegal, Republic of Ireland. He read ...

(born 1942)

T

* Gerald J. Tate (born 1954) *

Sam Thompson Samuel Luther "Big Sam" Thompson (March 5, 1860 – November 7, 1922) was an American professional baseball player from 1884 to 1898 and with a brief comeback in 1906. At , the Indiana native was one of the larger players of his day and was known ...

(1916–1965) *

Joseph Tomelty Joseph Tomelty (5 March 1911 – 7 June 1995) was an Irish actor, playwright, novelist, short-story writer and theatre manager. He worked in film, television, radio and on the stage. starring in Sam Thompson's 1960 play ''Over the Bridge''. ...

(1911–1995)

W

* James White (1928–1999) *

(born 1964)

Y

Ella Young Ella Young (26 December 1867 – 23 July 1956) was an Irish poet and Celtic mythologist active in the Gaelic and Celtic Revival literary movement of the late 19th and early 20th century. Born in Ireland, Young was an author of poetry and c ...

(1865–1951)

References

Irish Playography
*''The Encyclopaedia of Ireland'', Gill and Macmillan, Dublin, 2003
Irish Writers OnlineCulture Northern IrelandArts Council of Northern Ireland

Writers A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, plays ...

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

Writers,Northern