Robert McLiam Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Belfast-born author, Robert McLiam Wilson | |
| Born | Robert Wilson 24 February 1964 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist |
| Language | English |
| Education | St Malachy's College; St Catharine's College, Cambridge |
| Genre | Crime, Thriller, Satire |
| Notable works | Ripley Bogle, Eureka Street |
| Notable awards | Betty Trask Award; Rooney Prize |
Robert McLiam Wilson (born Robert Wilson, 24 February 1964) [1] [2] is a Northern Irish novelist.
He was born in the New Lodge district of Belfast and then moved to Turf Lodge and other places in the city. [3]
He attended St Malachy's College and studied English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge; [4] however, he dropped out [5] [6] and, for a short time, was homeless. [6] This period of his life profoundly affected his later life and influenced his works. [5]
Wilson moved to Paris where he writes for Charlie Hebdo and Libération . [6] He also writes occasionally for The Guardian , Corriere della Sera and Le Monde .
McLiam Wilson has written three novels: Ripley Bogle (1989), Manfred's Pain (1992), Eureka Street (1996) [2]
Ripley Bogle is a novel about a homeless man in London. Eureka Street focuses on the lives of two Belfast friends, one Catholic and one Protestant, shortly before and after the IRA ceasefires in 1994. A BBC TV adaptation of Eureka Street was broadcast in 1999. [5]
He is also the author of a non-fiction book about poverty, The Dispossessed (1992), [2] and has made television documentaries for the BBC. His next novel, Extremists, has been postponed again and again.
His work has been described as 'strikingly original' [7] and as 'one of the most influential literary voices to emerge from Northern Ireland since the Troubles began [who has] challenged the understanding of contemporary Irishness'. [8]
In 2003, he was named by Granta magazine as one of 20 "Best of Young British Novelists", despite the fact that he has not published new work in English since 1996. [2]
Ripley Bogle won the Rooney Prize and the Hughes Prize in 1989, and a Betty Trask Award and the Irish Book Award in 1990. [2]
Gerard Adams is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he followed the policy of abstentionism as a Member of Parliament (MP) of the British Parliament for the Belfast West constituency.
Henry Patterson, commonly known by his pen name Jack Higgins, was a British author. He was a best-selling author of popular thrillers and espionage novels. His novel The Eagle Has Landed (1975) sold more than 50 million copies and was adapted into a successful 1976 movie of the same title.
The IRA Army Council was the decision-making body of the Provisional Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group dedicated to bringing about independence to the whole island of Ireland and the end of the Union between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. The Council had seven members, said by the British and Irish governments to have included Gerry Adams, the former president of Sinn Féin. The Independent Monitoring Commission declared in 2008 that the council was "no longer operational or functional," but that it had not dissolved.
Events from the year 1923 in Ireland.
The murder of Robert McCartney occurred in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on the night of 30 January 2005 and was carried out by members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. McCartney, born in 1971, was a Roman Catholic and lived in the predominantly nationalist Short Strand area of east Belfast, and was said by his family to have been a supporter of Sinn Féin. He was the father of two children and was engaged to be married in June 2005 to his longtime girlfriend, Bridgeen Hagans.
Daniel Gerard Morrison is an Irish former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer, author and activist who played a crucial role in public events during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. An Irish republican, Morrison is also a former Sinn Féin publicity director and editor of Republican News and An Phoblacht. He is the secretary of the Bobby Sands Trust and current chairman of Féile an Phobail, the largest community arts festival in Ireland.
Nicholas Laird is a Northern Irish novelist and poet.
The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the Irish American businessman Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and former US Ambassador to Ireland. The prize is awarded to Irish writers aged under 40 who are published in Irish or English. Although often associated with individual books, it is intended to reward a body of work. Originally worth £750, the current value of the prize is €10,000.
William McMillen, aka Liam McMillen, was an Irish republican activist and an officer of the Official Irish Republican Army (OIRA) from Belfast, Northern Ireland. He was killed in 1975, in a feud with the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA).
William Reid was a member of the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Reid killed the first soldier of the British Army in the Troubles and was later himself killed as he attempted another ambush of British Army personnel.
Martin McGartland is a former British informer who infiltrated the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in 1989 to pass information to RUC Special Branch.
Maurice Henry Leitch MBE was a Northern Irish author. Leitch's work included novels, short stories, dramas, screenplays and radio and television documentaries. His first novel was The Liberty Lad, published in 1965. His second novel, Poor Lazarus was awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1969, and Silver's City won the Whitbread Prize in 1981.
Events during the year 1996 in Northern Ireland.
Events during the year 1989 in Northern Ireland.
Eureka Street is a BBC Northern Ireland 1999 adaptation to mini-series of Robert McLiam Wilson's 1996 novel of the same name. Set in Belfast in the six months before and after the 1994 ceasefire, it commences with an anonymous hand typing the words, "All stories are love stories." The novel opens with the same text.
The McMahon killings or the McMahon murders occurred on 24 March 1922 when six Catholic civilians were shot dead at the home of the McMahon family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. A group of police officers broke into their house at night and shot all eight males inside, in an apparent sectarian attack. The victims were businessman Owen McMahon, four of his sons, and one of his employees. Two others were shot but survived, and a female family member was assaulted. The survivors said most of the gunmen wore police uniform and it is suspected they were members of the Ulster Special Constabulary (USC). It is believed to have been a reprisal for the Irish Republican Army's (IRA) killing of two policemen on May Street, Belfast the day before.
That part of the United Kingdom called Northern Ireland was created in 1922, with the partition of the island of Ireland. The majority of the population of Northern Ireland wanted to remain within the United Kingdom. Most of these were the Protestant descendants of settlers from Great Britain.
Ripley Bogle is the debut novel of Northern Irish author Robert McLiam Wilson, published in 1989 in the UK although not until 1998 in the US. Written when he was 24, it is arguably his most acclaimed, winning the Rooney Prize and the Hughes Prize in 1989, and a Betty Trask Award and the Irish Book Awards the following year. Many elements of the novel are autobiographical; the author himself was born in Belfast, attended Cambridge University, dropped out and became homeless. It is regarded as a significant novel, producing "both a re-evaluation of Northern Irish literary identity, and an alternative perspective on the Troubles."
Eureka Street is a novel by Northern Irish author Robert McLiam Wilson, published in 1996 in the UK, it focuses on the lives of two Belfast friends, one Catholic and one Protestant, shortly before and after the IRA ceasefire in 1994. A BBC TV adaptation of Eureka Street was broadcast in 1999.
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