Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'Farrell
Born 1972
Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Occupation Novelist
Nationality British
Spouse William Sutcliffe
Website
www.maggieofarrell.com

Maggie O'Farrell (born 1972, Coleraine Northern Ireland) is a Northern Irish author of contemporary fiction, who features in Waterstones' 25 Authors for the Future[1] It is possible to identify several common themes in her novels – the relationship between sisters is one, another is loss and the psychological impact of those losses on the lives of her characters. O'Farrell won the 2010 Costa novel award on 4 January 2010 for her novel, The Hand That First Held Mine.[2]

Biography

O'Farrell was born in Northern Ireland and grew up in Wales and Scotland. At the age of eight she missed a year of school due to a viral infection,[3] an event that is echoed in The Distance Between Us. Maggie worked as a journalist, both in Hong Kong and as the Deputy Literary Editor of The Independent on Sunday. She has also taught creative writing.

O'Farrell has stated that well into the 1990s being Irish in Britain could be fraught: “We used to get endless Irish jokes, even from teachers. If I had to spell my name at school, teachers would say things like, ‘Oh, are your family in the IRA?’ Teachers would say this to a 12-year-old kid in front of the whole class.” “They thought it was hilarious to say, ‘Ha ha, your dad’s a terrorist’. It wasn’t funny at all.” “I wish I could say that it’s [less common today] because people are less racist, but I think it’s just that there are new immigrants who are getting it now.” Nevertheless, not until 2013's Instructions for a Heatwave did Irish subjects become a part of her work.

She is married to the novelist William Sutcliffe, whom she met at Cambridge. They now live together in Edinburgh, with their three children.[4] She has described Sutcliffe as 'a huge influence', saying, 'Will's always been my first reader, even before we were a couple, so he's a huge influence. He's brutal but you need that'.[5]

In 2011 she contributed a short story "How the Oak Tree Came to Life" to an anthology supporting The Woodland Trust. The anthology - Why Willows Weep - has so far helped The Woodland Trust plant approximately 50,000 trees, and is to be re-released in paperback format in 2016.

Awards and honours

Bibliography

Novels

Notes

  1. ↑ A list of emergent promising British & Northern Irish writers of the 21st Century who they believe will go on to produce the most impressive body of work over the next quarter century. http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=1293 Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Derry-born author wins Costa prize. Irish Times, 4 January 2010.
  3. ↑ Sale, Jonathan (17 May 2007) "Passed/Failed: An education in the life of Maggie O'Farrell", The Independent
  4. ↑ S.n.(s.d.) "Meet Maggie", Maggie O'Farrell
  5. ↑ Day, Elizabeth (24 February 2012) "Maggie O'Farrell: 'My writing is tougher and much better since I had children'"
  6. ↑ Derry-born author wins Costa prize. Irish Times, 4 January 2010.
  7. ↑ Mark Brown (26 November 2013). "Costa book awards 2013: late author on all-female fiction shortlist". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
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