Maggie O’Farrell is one of the most loved writers in the English language. Her debut, AFTER YOU’D GONE, marked the start of a career which has established Maggie as one of the great storytellers of our times.
From that point onwards, Maggie has enjoyed critical acclaim and received numerous literary awards. THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE won the 2010 Costa Novel Award. HAMNET, which imagined the untold story of Shakespeare’s son, won the 2020 Women’s Prize for Fiction and was Waterstones’ Book of the Year, and was also a no. 1 bestseller. Her most recent novel, THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT, was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize.
Maggie has recently co-written, with Chloé Zhao, the screenplay for HAMNET. The forthcoming film will star Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley and will be directed by academy-award-winner Chloé Zhao (Nomadland). Hamnet has previously been adapted for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company.Maggie is also the author of three books for children, WHERE SNOW ANGELS GO, THE BOY WHO LOST HIS SPARKand WHEN THE STUTTER CAME TO STAY.
She was born in Coleraine in Northern Ireland and grew up in Wales and Scotland. Currently, she lives in Edinburgh.
