Eimear McBride (born 6 October 1976) is an Irish novelist, whose

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, '' A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing'', won the inaugural

Goldsmiths Prize The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the ''New Statesman.'' It is awarded annually to a British or Irish piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the ...

in 2013 and the 2014

Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

. She was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the RSL has about 800 Fellows, elect ...

in 2018.

Published works

McBride wrote '' A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing'' in six months, but it took nine years to get it published.

Galley Beggar Press A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

finally picked it up in 2013. The novel is written in a

stream of consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which ...

narrative mode and recounts the story of a young woman's complex relationship with her family. McBride's second novel '' The Lesser Bohemians'' was published on 1 September 2016. Set in

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

in the 1990s, it tells the story of the turbulent relationship between an 18-year-old drama student and a 38-year-old actor. McBride discussed the book on ''

Woman's Hour ''Woman's Hour'' is a radio magazine programme broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC Light Programme, BBC Radio 2, and later BBC Radio 4. It has been on the air since 1946. History The first BBC programme for women was the programme cal ...

'' on 8 September and it was reviewed on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's programme '' Saturday Review'' on 17 September. Her third novel, ''Strange Hotel'' was published in February 2020. McBride's first non-fiction work ''Something Out of Place: Women and Disgust'' was published in 2021. McBride's fourth novel, ''The City Changes its Face'', was published in February 2025. She has contributed forewords to the ''Selected Poems of

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

'' (Folio Society), ''Sundog: the lyrics of Scott Walker'' (Faber & Faber) and

Edna O'Brien Josephine Edna O'Brien (15 December 1930 – 27 July 2024) was an Irish novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer. O'Brien's works often revolve around the inner feelings of women and their problems relating to men and soc ...

's '' The Country Girls Trilogy (Faber/ FSG).'' Her short stories have appeared in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

Prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

'' magazine, ''The Long Gaze Back'' (Little Island Press), ''Dubliners 100'' (Tramp Press), ''Winter Papers'' (Curlew Editions) and on BBC Radio 4.

Other work

In 2017 McBride was awarded the inaugural Creative Fellowship of the Beckett Research Centre,

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

. The fellowship resulted in ''Mouthpieces'', a collection of three performance texts published in 2021. In 2022 McBride wrote and directed ''A Very Short Film About Longing.'' The film was screened at the

2023 BFI London Film Festival The 67th BFI London Film Festival was a film festival that took place from 4–15 October 2023. The competition films were announced on 29 August 2023 while the films for the galas and the strands were revealed on 31 August 2023. The juries for th ...

. It starred

Joe Alwyn Joseph Matthew Alwyn (born 21 February 1991) is an English actor. Alwyn made his feature film debut as the titular character in Ang Lee's 2016 war drama '' Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk'' and has since played roles in films such as '' The F ...

, Natalia Kostrzewa and Lashay Anderson and was soundtracked by

Tindersticks Tindersticks are an English alternative rock band formed in Nottingham in 1991. They released six albums before singer Stuart A. Staples embarked on a solo career. The band reunited briefly in 2006 and more permanently the following year. The ...

Personal life

McBride was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in 1976 to Irish parents, both of whom were nurses. The family moved back to Ireland when she was three.BBC
"Debut novelist Eimear McBride wins first Goldsmiths prize"
14 November 2013. She spent her childhood in

Tubbercurry Tubbercurry or Tobercurry () is the second-largest town in terms of both population and land area in County Sligo, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It lies at the foot of the Ox Mountains, on the N17 road (Ireland), N17 national primary road, and ...

County Sligo County Sligo ( , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region and is part of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. Sligo is the administrative capital and largest town in ...

and

Castlebar Castlebar () is the county town of County Mayo, Ireland. Developing around a 13th-century castle of the de Barry family, from which the town got its name, the town now acts as a social and economic focal point for the surrounding hinterland. Wi ...

County Mayo County Mayo (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, it is named after the village of Mayo, County Mayo, Mayo, now ge ...

. She recalled writing from the age of seven or eight. At the age of 17, McBride moved to London to begin her studies at The Drama Centre, but realised after graduating that she had no interest in becoming an actress. McBride has a love for Russian literature and spent four months in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 2000. On her return, she worked as an office temp and travelled. She completed her first novel during this time. In 2006, she returned to Cork for a time and began work on her second novel. McBride moved to London in 2017 with her husband and daughter after spending several years living in Norwich.

Selected works

Fiction

*'' A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing'' (Galley Beggar Press, 2013). *'' The Lesser Bohemians'' (

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

, 2016) *''Strange Hotel'' (Faber and Faber, 2020) *''The City Changes Its Face'' (Faber and Faber, 2025)

Non-Fiction

* ''Something Out of Place: Women and Disgust'' (Profile / Wellcome Collection, 2021)

Awards and honours

*2017

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Un ...

winner for ''The Lesser Bohemians'' *2016

shortlist for ''The Lesser Bohemians'' *2014

Desmond Elliott Prize The Desmond Elliott Prize is an annual award for the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK. The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative. The winner receiv ...

(for debut novelists) winner for ''A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing'' *2014

Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award 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 ...

winner for ''A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing'' *2014

Folio Prize The Writers' Prize, previously known as the Rathbones Folio Prize, the Folio Prize and The Literature Prize, is a literary award that was sponsored by the London-based publisher The Folio Society for its first two years, 2014–2015. Starting ...

shortlist for ''A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing'' *2013

Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Iri ...

winner for ''A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing'' *2013

winner for ''A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing''

References

External links

Eimear McBride's Official Wattpad Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McBride, Eimear 1976 births Living people Goldsmiths Prize winners Irish women novelists New Statesman people 21st-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish women writers People from Tubbercurry Writers from County Sligo Recipients of Desmond Elliott Prize Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature