Niall Williams (writer)

Williams was born in Dublin, Ireland on June 8, 1958. While there was not an endless supply of books in the family home, his father, keen for Williams to excel academically, would take Williams to Pembroke Library every two weeks where he was spoiled for choice. He attended Oatlands College, a boys’ school in Stillorgan, County Dublin.{{Cite web|date=2016-11-04|title=Famous Alumni|url=https://ahistoryofoatlandscollege.wordpress.com/famous-alumni/|access-date=2020-08-09|website=A brief history of Oatlands College|language=en}} He studied English and French Literature at University College Dublin, where he met his wife, American writer and editor Christine Breen. He graduated with a Masters of Arts in Modern American literature in 1980.

His first published story was printed in The Irish Press when he was eighteen.[https://www.booksirelandmagazine.com/niall-williams-61-this-literary-life Books Ireland website] A £25 cheque for his first story, and a nod of approval, was the confirmation he needed from the world to dedicate his life to writing.{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2020-01-13 |title=Niall Williams (61): This Literary Life - Books Ireland |url=https://booksirelandmagazine.com/niall-williams-61-this-literary-life/ |access-date=2023-11-20 |language=en-GB}}

After a year lecturing at the Université de Caen in Normandy, he moved to New York. He worked briefly at Fox and Sutherland’s bookstore in Mount Kisco, New York, near his wife’s home town of Katonah before becoming a copywriter at Avon Books.{{Cite web|title=Niall Williams - Irish Writer from Kiltumper, Ireland|url=http://www.niallwilliams.com/Biography.aspx|access-date=2020-08-09|website=www.niallwilliams.com}}

In 1985, Williams returned to Ireland and moved to Kilmihil, County Clare. He and Christine began writing factual accounts of life in rural Ireland.

His first four books were non-fiction chronicles of rural life in County Clare in the decade prior to the Celtic Tiger, co-written with Breen.

In 1991, Williams’ first play, The Murphy Initiative, was staged at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.{{Cite web|last=team|first=Code8|title=Niall Williams|url=https://petersfraserdunlop.com/clients/niall-williams/|access-date=2020-08-09|website=Peters Fraser and Dunlop (PFD) Literary Agents|language=en-GB}} His second play, A Little Like Paradise, was produced on the Peacock stage of the Abbey Theatre in 1995. His third play, The Way You Look Tonight, was produced by Galway’s Druid Theatre Company in 1999.

Four Letters of Love, Williams' first novel, was published in 1997. It went on to become an international bestseller and has been published in more than twenty countries.

The Fall of Light was set in the nineteen century and was Williams’ first foray into historical fiction.

In 2006, Williams’ published his novella, The Unrequited. He also wrote two young adult novels, Boy in the World (2007) and Boy and Man (2008).

In 2014, Williams started a series of novels set in [https://www.townlands.ie/kerry/iraghticonnor/kilconly/gullane/faha/ Faha], a village in the west of Ireland. Similar to Macondo in the works of Gabriel García Márquez, Faha is a village steeped in magic realism which acts as a backdrop for Williams’ stories.{{Cite web|last=Bloomsbury.com|title=History of the Rain|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/history-of-the-rain-9781620406489/|access-date=2020-08-09|website=Bloomsbury Publishing|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Longlist 2014 announced {{!}} The Booker Prizes|url=https://thebookerprizes.com/news/2014/07/23/longlist-2014-announced|access-date=2020-08-09|website=thebookerprizes.com}}{{Cite web|last=Bloomsbury.com|title=This Is Happiness|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/this-is-happiness-9781635574203/|access-date=2020-08-09|website=Bloomsbury Publishing|language=en}}

• Notable Book of the Year, The New York Times Book Review, 1997

• Shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 1999{{cite web|date=10 October 1998|title=100 Books chosen for Literary Award|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/1998/1017/98101700032.html|accessdate=4 September 2012|publisher=The Irish Times}}
• Shortlisted for the Irish Times Literature Prize, 1999.

• Longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2000{{Cite web|title=Niall Williams - Irish Writer from Kiltumper, Ireland|url=http://www.niallwilliams.com/Novels.aspx|access-date=2020-08-09|website=www.niallwilliams.com}}

• Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2014

• Washington Post Best Books of the Year, 2019
• Shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Best Book of the Year, 2019{{Cite web|title=An Post Irish Book Awards » Shortlist unveiled for the An Post Irish Book Awards 2019|url=https://www.irishbookawards.irish/2019/10/24/shortlist-unveiled-for-the-an-post-irish-book-awards-2019/|access-date=2020-08-09|language=en-GB}}

• Four Letters Of Love (1997){{cite news|title=Miracles Happen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/97/11/09/reviews/971109.09webert.html?_r=1|work=The New York Times|date=9 November 1997|accessdate=30 April 2011}}
• As It Is In Heaven (1999){{cite news|title=Novel of the week|url=http://www.newstatesman.com/199907050048|work=New Statesman|date=5 July 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111092626/http://www.newstatesman.com/199907050048|accessdate=30 April 2011|archive-date=2011-01-11}}
• The Way You Look Tonight (2000){{cite web | url=https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/niall-williams/ | title=Niall Williams | date=20 November 2021 }}
• The Fall of Light (2001){{cite news|title=Gaelic revival|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/oct/13/fiction.reviews2 |work=The Guardian|date=13 October 2001|accessdate=30 April 2011|location=London, UK|first=Eamonn|last=Sweeney}}
• Only Say the Word (2005){{cite news|title=Fiction: Only Say the Word|url=https://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article411069.ece|work=The Sunday Times|date=16 January 2005|access-date=30 April 2011|location=London, UK|first=Sean O'Neill|last=Fiona Hamilton}}
• The Unrequited (2006){{Cite web|title=The Unrequited by Niall Williams|url=https://www.fantasticfiction.com/w/niall-williams/unrequited.htm|access-date=2020-08-09|website=www.fantasticfiction.com}}
• Boy in the World (2007){{cite news|title=Into the mystic|url=http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/into-the-mystic-47896.html|work=Irish Independent|date=3 March 2007|accessdate=30 April 2011}}
• Boy and Man (2008){{cite news|title=In a realm of higher purpose|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2008/0719/1216389359970.html|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=7 July 2008|accessdate=30 April 2011}}
• John: A Novel (2008)
• History of the Rain (2015)
• This Is Happiness (2019)
• The Unrequited (2021) (novella){{cite web | url=https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/niall-williams/ | title=Niall Williams | date=20 November 2021 }}
• Time of the Child (2024){{cite web | url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201608156-time-of-the-child| title=Time of the Child}}

• O Come Ye Back to Ireland (1987)
• When Summer’s in the Meadow (1989)
• The Pipes are Calling (1990)
• The Luck of the Irish (1995)
• In Kiltumper: A Year in an Irish Garden (2021)

Williams and Breen have two adult children, Deirdre and Joseph, and live in County Clare.{{cite web|url=http://www.niallwilliams.com/Biography.aspx|title=Niall Williams - Biography|accessdate=13 August 2014}} Williams was a teacher of English and French in St Michaels Community College Secondary School in Kilmihil.

Williams and Breen teach creative writing workshops in Kiltumper. Williams does not read reviews.[https://www.booksirelandmagazine.com/niall-williams-61-this-literary-life Books Ireland website]

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.niallwilliams.com/ Official website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Niall}}

Category:1958 births

Category:Living people

Category:Irish novelists

Category:People educated at Oatlands College

Category:Irish male novelists

Category:Alumni of University College Dublin