Who is the author of 'Hamnet', a fictional account of Shakespeare's son?

Maggie O'Farrell (born 1972), a novelist from Northern Ireland, is the author of 'Hamnet', which won the 'Women's Prize for Fiction' in 2020, the fiction prize at the '2020 National Book Critics Circle Awards' and the '2021 Dalkey Literary Award' for the novel of the year. O'Farrell has been shortlisted twice for the 'Costa Novel Award' with her books 'Heatwave' (2014) and 'This Must Be The Place' (2017).

'Hamnet', published in 2020, is a fictional account of William Shakespeare's son, Hamnet, who died at age 11 in 1596. Whilst the reader is aware the playwright is Shakespeare, he is never named in the novel. The story is told from several perspectives, including Hamnet, his twin sister Judith, older sister Susanna, mother Agnes, and his father.

O'Farrell was born in Coleraine, Northern Ireland, although spent her childhood in Wales and Scotland. At eight years old, she spent time in hospital with encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain, and missed over a year of school. This experience inspired her novel 'The Distance Between Us' (2004) and her memoir 'I Am, I Am, I Am' (2017).

O'Farrell has worked as a journalist in Hong Kong and as the deputy literary editor of 'The Independent on Sunday' in London. She has also taught creative writing at the University of Warwick in Coventry and Goldsmith's College in London. Between 2000 and 2020, O'Farrell wrote eight novels and one memoir. She is married to the novelist William Sutcliffe (born 1971).