Niall Williams (writer)

Niall Williams is an Irish writer.

He has written novels, plays and non-fiction. His work has been translated into twenty different languages.

Biography
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. He studied English and French Literature at University College Dublin, where he met his wife, American writer and editor Christine Breen. He graduated with an Masters of Arts in Modern American literature in 1980.

His first published story was printed in The Irish Press when he was eighteen. 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.

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.

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

Non-fiction and drama
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. 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.

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

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

Expanse into different styles
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).

Faha novels
In 2014, Williams started a series of novels set in 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.

Four Letters of Love

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

As It Is In Heaven

 * Shortlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 1999
 * short-listed for the Irish Times Literature Prize, 1999.

The Fall of Light

 * Longlisted for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2000

History of the Rain

 * Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2014

This is Happiness

 * Washington Post Best Books of the Year, 2019
 * Shortlisted for the An Post Irish Book Awards Best Book of the Year, 2019

Novels

 * Four Letters Of Love (1997)
 * As It Is In Heaven (1999)
 * The Way You Look Tonight (2000)
 * The Fall of Light (2001)
 * Only Say the Word (2005)
 * The Unrequited (2006)
 * Boy in the World (2007)
 * Boy and Man (2008)
 * The Unrequited (2021) (novella)
 * The Unrequited (2021) (novella)
 * The Unrequited (2021) (novella)
 * The Unrequited (2021) (novella)

Non-Fiction (with Christine Breen)

 * 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)

Personal life
Williams and Breen have two adult children, Deirdre and Joseph, and live in County Clare.

Williams and Breen teach creative writing workshops in Kiltumper. Williams does not read reviews.