A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Welcome
Born in Dublin in 1958, studied English and French Literature at University College, Dublin. He moved to New York in 1980 where he married Christine Breen, whom he had met while she was also a student at UCD. His first job in New York was opening boxes of books in Fox & Sutherland’s Bookshop in Mount Kisco. In 1985, he and Chris left America to attempt to make lives as writers in Ireland. On April 1st they moved to the cottage in west Clare that Chris’s grandfather had left eighty years before. They have two adult children, a dog named Finn. Niall’s first four books, published between 1987 and 1995, were co-written with Chris and tell of their life together in Co Clare.
Kiltumper Writing Workshop
We’ve worked with over 100 fiction writers from around the world since the workshops began. And have hosted wonderful workshops here in Kiltumper. This coming year we are holding a workshop at The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, Co Clare, March 22-25th, 2024. Use the contact page for further info.
Or, join us in Greece in September 2024 at the Kalymnos Writers’ Festival.
NEWS
We’re delighted to announce that THIS IS HAPPINESS has just been optioned for feature film development by High Frequency Entertainment with Charlie McDowell to direct.
TIME OF THE CHILD
A compassionate, life-affirming novel about the Christmas season that transforms the small Irish town of Faha. Time of the Child, is about Doctor Jack Troy, born and raised in Faha, but his responsibilities for the sick and his care for the dying mean he has always been set apart from the town. A visit from the doctor is a sign of bad things to come. His eldest daughter, Ronnie, has grown up in her father’s shadow, and remains there, having missed one chance at real love – and passed up another offer of marriage from an unsuitable man.
But in the advent season of 1962, as the town readies itself for Christmas, Ronnie and Doctor Troy’s lives are turned upside down when a baby is left in their care. As the winter passes, father and daughter’s lives, the understanding of their family, and their role in their community are changed forever.
Set over the course of one December in the same village as Niall’s beloved This Is Happiness, Time of the Child is a tender return to Faha for readers who know its charms, and a heartwarming welcome to new readers entering for the very first time. Publication dates: UK/Ire October 24, 2024 & US/Canada November 19, 2024
PRAISE FOR TIME OF THE CHILD
.I am such a fan of Niall Williams’ work’ – Ann Patchett
‘The characters are so fully alive and so fully human that I missed them whenever I put the book down, and I still miss them now. But, y’all, the incandescent, shimmering language of the sentences—sentence after sentence after sentence—that’s where the real glory of this book lies. – Margaret Renkl
‘Irresistible … A powerful pleasure’ – Karen Joy Fowler
‘Warm and life-affirming… stained by these wise lines on nearly every page and by certain set-piece scenes that show the breadth of Wiliams’ skill.’ – Sarah Gilmartin IRISH TIMES
Another glorious and touching novel from Niall Williams, one of the world’s greatest storytellers’ – Anne Griffin
‘I was deeply moved by this novel’ – Mary Beth Keane
‘A triumph … There is so much to admire: the lyrical language, how landscape and destiny intertwine, the complex bonds of community’ – Ron Rash
‘Niall Williams is one of Ireland’s greatest storytellers, and Time of the Child is his finest, and most compelling work to date.’ – Simon Van Booy
‘Williams quietly lets us glimpse the story’s underlying harsh- ness between the lines of his warm and finely turned festive tale.’ – Anthony Cummins, DAILY MAIL
Pierce Brosnan, Gabriel Byrne and Helena Bonham Carter star in the film adaptation of Niall Williams’ novel, FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE, directed by Polly Steele with screenplay by Niall, and will be released in 2025.
The film is based on Niall Williams’ 1997 debut and international best-selling novel, Four Letters of Love, which was published in 30 countries. Polly Steele (Let Me Go, Elton John: Tantrums & Tiaras) is directing. Described as a “lyrical and deeply romantic Irish story,” the film features Pierce Brosnan and Imelda May, and Gabriel Byrne and Helena Bonham Carter who play parents of two lovers, portrayed by rising stars Fionn O’Shea and Ann Skelly. The cast also includes Ferdia Walsh-Peelo and Donal Finn and Pat Short. Read more here and here.
Kiltumper Writing Workshop
We’ve worked with many fiction writers from around the world since the workshops began over 10 years ago. This coming year (2025) we plan to host another workshop at The Old Ground Hotel in Ennis, Co Clare in February. Use the contact page for further info.
IN KILTUMPER A Year in an Irish Garden
IN KILTUMPER, A Year in an Irish Garden by Niall and Christine was published by Bloomsbury in Sept ’21 with paperback in April ’23. The chronicle of a gardening year and a glimpse of a lifetime of writing and gardening, and Niall and Christine’s first co-authored book in 25 years. Here’s what Claire Connolly of The Times Literary Supplement wrote: ‘It is a record, both honest and beautiful, of a sustainable but precarious way of life.’ See reviews below….
Articles
The Good Life: One couple’s success at writing their way back to nature
