Marian Keyes

Popular Irish women's fiction author - author of This Charming Man

See our live webchat with Marian in our Editor's Choice bookclub

Marian Keyes is a publishing phenomenon. Though she didn't start writing until ten years ago, she is now one of the most successful Irish novelists of all time. She describes herself as "an accidental novelist." Though she was brought up in a home where a lot of oral story-telling went on, it never occurred to her that she could write. Instead she studied law and accountancy and finally started writing short stories in 1993 "out of the blue." Though she had no intention of ever writing a novel ("It would take too long") she sent her short stories to a publisher, with a letter saying she'd started work on a novel. The publishers replied, asking to see the novel, and once her panic had subsided, she began to write what subsequently became her first book, Watermelon.

It was published in Ireland in 1995, where it was an immediate, runaway success. Its chatty conversational style and whimsical Irish humour appealed to all age groups, and this appeal spread to Britain when Watermelon was picked as a Fresh Talent book. Other countries followed (most notably the US in 1997) and Marian is now published in thirty-three languages.

To date, the woman who said she'd never write a novel has published eight of them: Watermelon, Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married, Rachel's Holiday, Last Chance Saloon, Sushi for Beginners, Angels, The Other Side of the Story and Anybody Out There, all bestsellers around the world, a total of fifteen milllion of her books having been sold to date.Sushi for Beginners and Angels were No 1 bestsellers on the Sunday Times list, and The Other Side of the Story sold over half a million copies in paperback, making it the second highest selling paperback novel published in 2005, with Anybody Out There repeating the feat in 2007.

As well as novels she writes short stories, and articles for various magazines and other publications. She is also involved with various charities - she contributed to a multi-authored book, Yeats is Dead! where all the royalties were donated to Amnesty International. She has published two collections of her journalism, titled Under the Duvet and Further Under the Duvet, and donated all royalties from Irish sales to the Simon Community, a charity which works with the homeless.

She was born in Limerick in 1963, and brought up in Cavan, Cork, Galway and Dublin; she spent her twenties in London, but is now living in Dún Laoghaire with her husband Tony. She includes among her hobbies, reading, movies, shoes, handbags and feminism.

Read more... Author Q and A

Fact file

Name: Marian Keyes

Date of birth: 10/9/63

Place of birth: Limerick

Current home: Dún Laoghaire

Education: Law degree, UCD

Similar Authors: Adele Parks, Jane Green, Jill Mansell, Cathy Kelly