Maggie O'Farrell

Maggie O'Farrell

From Profile by BBC Radio 4

June 6, 2026 · 15 min

About this episode

This episode features Maggie O'Farrell discussing her life, career, and literary achievements.

Maggie O'Farrell was born in Northern Ireland in 1972. Keen to move away from The Troubles, her father took a job at the University of Wales and the family moved to Bridgend when Maggie was a child. At the age of eight she was hospitalised with encephalitis. She didn't attend school during this time but instead she discovered literature. The family then moved to Scotland. After her A' Level's, Maggie O'Farrell travelled south to Cambridge University to study, what else, English Literature. In her twenties she became a journalist working at the Independent on Sunday but her ambitions lay elsewhere. At the age of twenty eight O'Farrell published her first novel 'After You’d Gone'. Her writing has been described as lyrical, intimate and sensory, writing in a way that physically immerses the reader in a scene. In 2020 she published Hamnet, her greatest literary success to date, as the world went into lockdown. In 2025 the novel was adapted into a film, directed by Chloe Zhao who describes O'Farrell as someone "interested in the land, the earth, the body and what's hidden underneath". Production: Presenter: Stephen Smith Producers: Annabel Deas, Bethan Ashmead and Wedaeli Chibelushi…

People in this episode

Host: Stephen Smith

Guest: Maggie O'Farrell

Topics covered

  • literature
  • biography
  • writing
  • journalism
  • adaptation
  • personal journey

Keywords

  • Maggie O'Farrell
  • Hamnet
  • After You’d Gone
  • literature
  • journalism
  • biography
  • writing

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of Wales, Independent on Sunday

Books & works: After You’d Gone, Hamnet

Places: Northern Ireland, Bridgend, Scotland

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