Maggie O Farrell

Maggie O'Farrell, born in 1972, is an Irish-British novelist celebrated for her critically acclaimed fiction. Her debut novel, 'After You'd Gone', earned the Betty Trask Award, and 'The Hand That First Held Mine' secured the 2010 Costa Novel Award. O'Farrell has been a finalist for the Costa Novel Award multiple times since. Her memoir, 'I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death', achieved bestseller status. A significant achievement includes her novel 'Hamnet', which garnered the Women's Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 2020. O'Farrell also co-adapted 'Hamnet' for the screen, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

O'Farrell's early life in Northern Ireland and subsequent moves around Britain and Ireland shaped her perspective, a duality she has described as feeling both Irish and British depending on her location. A severe childhood illness, encephalitis, led to a year-long hospital stay and a long recovery, during which she developed a profound appreciation for literature. This experience, along with other brushes with death, is reflected in her memoir. She pursued her education in English Literature at Cambridge University. Before becoming a novelist, O'Farrell worked as a journalist and taught creative writing.

Maggie O'Farrell has established herself as a prominent novelist, with her works translated into over 30 languages. Her novels, such as the Costa Award-winning 'The Hand That First Held Mine' and the highly praised 'Hamnet', have consistently received critical acclaim. 'Hamnet', published in 2020, is inspired by the life of Shakespeare's family and draws a connection between the death of his son, Hamnet, and the creation of the play 'Hamlet'. Her 2017 memoir, 'I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death', recounts numerous near-death experiences from her life and her children's, structured non-chronologically by affected body parts. O'Farrell also writes for children, with two picture books published between 2020 and 2022. Her novel 'The Marriage Portrait' (2022) is based on the historical figure Lucrezia de' Medici, exploring themes of life, death, and historical mysteries.

Born in Northern Ireland in 1972, O'Farrell's upbringing involved frequent relocation between Ireland and Britain due to her academic father's career. This nomadic childhood fostered a complex sense of identity, with O'Farrell noting she felt Irish in Britain and British in Ireland. A significant event in her childhood was a severe bout of encephalitis at age eight, which left her hospitalized for over a year and facing a long rehabilitation process. This period of intense recovery, during which she was told she might never walk again, is credited with igniting her passion for literature. These personal experiences have informed her writing, notably appearing in her novel 'The Distance Between Us' and her memoir.

O'Farrell's novel 'Hamnet' has been adapted for both stage and screen. The Royal Shakespeare Company presented a stage adaptation, and a film version, co-adapted by O'Farrell with director Chloé Zhao, premiered to critical acclaim, receiving awards such as the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Drama in 2026 and an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for O'Farrell and Zhao. A film adaptation of 'The Marriage Portrait' is also in development. O'Farrell's contributions to literature have been widely recognized; she was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL) in 2021 and has received numerous literary awards throughout her career, including the Women's Prize for Fiction and the National Book Critics Circle Award for 'Hamnet'.