Brian McGilloway
Radio/tv/screenwriter, Novelist
About
Brian McGilloway is an award-winning crime novelist and screenwriter based in Northern Ireland. He is the author of thirteen novels to date, including the critically acclaimed Inspector Benedict Devlin Mysteries and the Lucy Black series, and three standalone novels including the ‘utterly believable and breathlessly exciting’ (Irish Independent), The One You Least Suspect (Constable, 2025). His novels have been shortlisted for the Irish Book awards and CWA Daggers while The Last Crossing (Dome Press, 2020) was recognised with an unprecedented Highly Commended Theakston’s Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year award. Brian is a past recipient of Ulster University’s McCrea Literary award and a Major Individual Artist award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. His novels have featured on the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller lists.
As a screenwriter, he has developed original projects with BBC NI and Two Cities Television (including his Tony Doyle Award-winning crime thriller Little Emperors), and with Long Story TV, for whom he has also written four episodes of BBC drama Hope Street. He has also written essays for BBC Radio and the Irish Times.
In addition to writing, Brian has completed a PhD in English at Queen’s University, Belfast. He taught in St Columb’s College, Derry, where he was Head of English, and Holy Cross College, Strabane, where he was Head of Sixth Form. He is a former writer in residence with BBC NI, Libraries NI and Prison Arts Foundation, and lives near the Irish borderlands with his wife, daughter and three sons.