Ruth Gilligan is an Irish novelist, journalist, and academic now based in the UK. She has published four novels to date and was the youngest ever person to top the Irish bestsellers’ list. Her most recent book Nine Folds Make a Paper Swan (Atlantic Books; Tin House) was inspired by the history of the Jewish community in Ireland and enjoyed major critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ruth holds degrees from Cambridge, Yale, UEA, and Exeter, and now works full-time as a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Birmingham. She contributes regular literary reviews to publications such as the Guardian, Times Literary Supplement, LA Review of Books, and Irish Independent, where she was a columnist for a number of years. She is also involved in the global organization Narrative 4 which believes in the power of storytelling to foster radical empathy between diverse communities. In 2018 she delivered talks at the International Writers' Festival in Jerusalem and the Irish Literary Society in London.
While in residence, Ruth completed a first draft of her fifth novel, The Butchers, which combines the realities of the 1996 BSE crisis with a mythical group of travelling Irish slaughterers. It was the winner of the 2021 RSL Ondaatje Prize.
