Conor O'Callaghan (born 1968) is an Irish

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while othe ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

Biography

O'Callaghan was born in

Newry Newry (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland, divided by the Clanrye river in counties Armagh and Down, from Belfast and from Dublin. It had a population of 26,967 in 2011. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although ...

in 1968 and grew up in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is hal ...

. His first novel, ''Nothing on Earth'', was published to acclaim in 2016 and was shortlisted for the

Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year The Kerry Group Irish Novel of the Year Award is an annual award for Irish authors of fiction, established in 1995. It was previously known as the Kerry Ingredients Book of the Year Award (1995–2000), the Kerry Ingredients Irish Fiction Award ( ...

. His second novel, ''We Are Not in the World'', appeared in February 2021. He has also published five collections of poetry. His memoir ''Red Mist: Roy Keane and the Football Civil War'' (2004) is an account of

Roy Keane Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971) is an Irish football pundit, coach and former professional player. He is the joint most successful Irish footballer of all time, having won 19 major trophies in his club career, 17 of which came during h ...

's departure from the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial football world championship for men's national teams organized by FIFA. It was held from 31 May to 30 June 2002 at sites in South Korea ...

squad. O'Callaghan is a former co-holder of the Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies at

Villanova University Villanova University is a private Roman Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the Augustinians in 1842 and named after Saint Thomas of Villanova. The university is the oldest Catholic university in Pen ...

. He is currently a senior lecturer at Lancaster University. He was awarded the 2007 Bess Hokin prize by ''

Poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...

'' magazine. He lives in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

with his wife, Mary Peace, a scholar of eighteenth century literature.

Fiction

*''Nothing on Earth'' ( Doubleday, 2016) *''We Are Not in the World'' ( Doubleday, 2021)

Poetry

*''The History of Rain'' (

Gallery Press Gallery Press is an independent Irish publishing company, publishing Irish poetry, drama, and prose by contemporary Irish writers. Founded by poet Peter Fallon as the Gallery Books imprint of Tara Telephone Publications, itself an offshoot of a ...

, 1993) *''Seatown'' (Gallery Press, 1999) *''Fiction'' (Gallery Press, 2005) *''The Server Room'' (Smithereens Press, 2013) *''The Sun King'' (Gallery Press, 2013) *''Live Streaming'' (Gallery Press, 2017)

Non-fiction

*''Red Mist: Roy Keane and the Football Civil War'' (Bloomsbury, 2004)

References

External links

* Eileen Battersby
"Nothing on Earth by Conor O’Callaghan: an original story, brilliantly told"
(review), ''Irish Times'', 28 May 2016. * Justine Jordan
"Nothing on Earth by Conor O’Callaghan review – a disturbing, elusive debut"
''The Guardian'', 15 July 2016. * Nina Allan
"The New Folk Horror: Recent Work by Sarah Hall, Conor O’Callaghan, and Malcolm Devlin"
''LA Review of Books'', 18 November 2017. * Jarlath Killeen
"How Celtic Tiger’s death led to a Gothic revival"
''The Irish Times'', 28 April 2017. * Mary Morrissy
"Nothing on Earth: a kind of ghost story on a ghost estate"
''The Irish Times'', 10 April 2017.
Conor O'Callaghan's page
at Wake Forest University Press
Conor O'Callaghan's page
at Poetry Foundation

at Smithereens Press
The Stinging Fly review of ''The Sun King''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ocallaghan, Conor Irish male poets 21st-century Irish poets 1968 births Living people 21st-century Irish male writers