Angeline King Biography
Novels & Poetry
Angeline King is a critically acclaimed Irish novelist. Her work has received recognition for its sharp social commentary and 'delightfully funny' prose (The Irish Times).
Angeline's novels blend coming-of-age drama with genealogical adventure and international perspectives on Northern Ireland. Ruth McKee wrote of Angeline's first historical novel, Dusty Bluebells, 'Angeline King brings a rich, cultural history to life in a family saga spanning 50 years...Pithy with Ulster Scots, old rhymes, cures and sayings, there is a sense of magic to it all.'
Her poems and short stories have been published in a range of national publications, including the Community Arts Partnership poetry anthologies, Honest Ulsterman, The Irish Times and Bangor Literary Journal.
Early Work
Angeline King's debut novel, Snugville Street (2015), heralded the arrival of a confident and entertaining novelist and attracted the attention of The Irish Times, Libraries NI, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland & the Linen Hall Library.
Having previously had a career in Publishing & Educational Technology, Angeline has embraced IT advances, and, alongside several peers within the writing community, led the way in self-publishing and independent publishing in Ireland. Critically-acclaimed novels, such as Dusty Bluebells (2020) and The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew (2024) have been rated equal to the work of contemporaries in national reviews.
Ulster Scots Writing & Translations
Concurrent with Standard English work, Angeline has made a positive contribution to Irish and Scottish literature through her Ulster Scots writing. Formerly a student of languages, Angeline translates poems from French and Dutch into English, Scots or Ulster Scots.
Background
Angeline’s background is in business and languages. She worked for McGraw-Hill Publishing Ltd in the Netherlands for three years before relocating home, and then worked for Texthelp Ltd, where she was a senior manager specialising in the export of educational technology and ESL products. She left the business world in December 2014 to take up writing.
Born in Larne, County Antrim, in 1975, she has lived in France, the Netherlands and America and also spent a significant portion of her twenties and thirties travelling with work or living abroad. She adopted her maiden name, King, for her writing career in 2015.
Academic Writing & Translations
Angeline's academic work includes a chapter on Seamus Heaney HomePlace and Ballymacombs More Woman for the Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney (forthcoming) and an English Review. She has also written for the journals Fortnight and Familia.
The Ghost Limb & Alternative Narratives
Angeline was featured in Claire Mitchell’s critically-acclaimed book The Ghost Limb: Alternative Protestants and the Spirit of 1798, in which Claire explored the political afterlife of the United Irishmen.
Angeline King is a critically acclaimed Irish novelist. Her work has received recognition for its sharp social commentary and 'delightfully funny' prose (The Irish Times).
Angeline's novels blend coming-of-age drama with genealogical adventure and international perspectives on Northern Ireland. Ruth McKee wrote of Angeline's first historical novel, Dusty Bluebells, 'Angeline King brings a rich, cultural history to life in a family saga spanning 50 years...Pithy with Ulster Scots, old rhymes, cures and sayings, there is a sense of magic to it all.'
Her poems and short stories have been published in a range of national publications, including the Community Arts Partnership poetry anthologies, Honest Ulsterman, The Irish Times and Bangor Literary Journal.
Early Work
Angeline King's debut novel, Snugville Street (2015), heralded the arrival of a confident and entertaining novelist and attracted the attention of The Irish Times, Libraries NI, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland & the Linen Hall Library.
Having previously had a career in Publishing & Educational Technology, Angeline has embraced IT advances, and, alongside several peers within the writing community, led the way in self-publishing and independent publishing in Ireland. Critically-acclaimed novels, such as Dusty Bluebells (2020) and The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew (2024) have been rated equal to the work of contemporaries in national reviews.
Ulster Scots Writing & Translations
Concurrent with Standard English work, Angeline has made a positive contribution to Irish and Scottish literature through her Ulster Scots writing. Formerly a student of languages, Angeline translates poems from French and Dutch into English, Scots or Ulster Scots.
Background
Angeline’s background is in business and languages. She worked for McGraw-Hill Publishing Ltd in the Netherlands for three years before relocating home, and then worked for Texthelp Ltd, where she was a senior manager specialising in the export of educational technology and ESL products. She left the business world in December 2014 to take up writing.
Born in Larne, County Antrim, in 1975, she has lived in France, the Netherlands and America and also spent a significant portion of her twenties and thirties travelling with work or living abroad. She adopted her maiden name, King, for her writing career in 2015.
Academic Writing & Translations
Angeline's academic work includes a chapter on Seamus Heaney HomePlace and Ballymacombs More Woman for the Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney (forthcoming) and an English Review. She has also written for the journals Fortnight and Familia.
The Ghost Limb & Alternative Narratives
Angeline was featured in Claire Mitchell’s critically-acclaimed book The Ghost Limb: Alternative Protestants and the Spirit of 1798, in which Claire explored the political afterlife of the United Irishmen.
- More about the project: Claire Mitchell’s Official Website
- A review: Review of The Ghost Limb via Slugger O'Toole
Seamus Heaney HomePlace (2024 & 2025)
Angeline recently completed two temporary contracts at the Seamus Heaney HomePlace in Bellaghy. As well as organising hundreds of educational events and facilitating workshops on Heaney's poetry, she wrote a chapter on Seamus Heaney HomePlace for the Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney and developed an educational documentary on the the theme of bog bodies alongside film-maker Tristan Crowe.
Arts Council of Northern Ireland SIAP (2025)
In December 2024, Angeline King received the Arts Council of Northern Ireland SIAP award for the research and development of a new novel.
The novel, now completed, is set in the Netherlands and alternates between the 2000s and 1680s, touching on the intricate links between the Dutch, Scots, Ulster Scots, Huguenots and Jewish inhabitants of enlightened 1600s Leiden.
The novel, now completed, is set in the Netherlands and alternates between the 2000s and 1680s, touching on the intricate links between the Dutch, Scots, Ulster Scots, Huguenots and Jewish inhabitants of enlightened 1600s Leiden.
Poetry Jukebox - Scotch Fragments (2025)
In 2025, Angeline King was commissioned to write a poem in response to Robert Burns and his Ulster contemporaries for a unique audio poetry project based on the Linen Hall Library's Gibson Collection. Other poets involved were: Maria McManus, Al Millar, Pàdraig MacAoidh /Peter Mackay (current Scottish Makar) Kathleen Jamie (former Scottish Makar), Anne McMaster, Angela Graham, Stephen Dornan, Morna Sullivan, Lolly Spence and Charles Lang.
University Writer in Residence
Angeline King was Writer in Residence at Ulster University from September 2020 to September 2023.
PhD: Creative Writing
(September 2020 to September 2023)
Research
Dialect in diary novels,
The Ulster Scots family history of the Agnew/Ó Gnímh family,
Female novelists writing in Scots and Ulster Scots.
Publications / Talks on PhD
Publication of article 'The Agnews of Kilwaughter: hereditary sheriffs, hereditary bards' in Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review, No. 39, 2023.
Publication of the novel The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew, Leschenault Press, 1 July 2024.
Keynote presentation, 'Female novelists, Ulster Scots and Ulster English', Ulster Vernacularities: Interdisciplinary Perspectives conference, Ulster University, 6 June 2024.
Presentation, 'Agnew Hereditary Sheriffs and Hereditary Bards' at the Preserving Local History in the Causeway Coast and Glens and Beyond Conference, Ulster University, 8 May 2024.
Presentation, 'Creative Writing for the Earth' at the Writing for the Earth Symposium, Ulster University, 26 May 2022.
Facilitation of workshop 'Scullion Speak: Writing in dialect', Seamus Heaney HomePlace 2022.
Panel on language & workshops on Ulster Scots writing, Frances Browne Festival, 2021.
Academic Publications:
2026: Betrothed to Forbidden Ground: Seamus Heaney Homeplace, The Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney, Editors, Eugene O’Brien & Ian Hickey, Routledge. [Forthcoming]
2026: Poets go a blackberrying, English Review [Work complete, but publication no longer in print].
2025: Fortnight, Issue 497, Review of Short Story anthology 'Take Six', Six Irish Women Writers, edited by Tanya Farrelly.
2023: The Agnews of Kilwaughter, Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review, No. 39
2026: Betrothed to Forbidden Ground: Seamus Heaney Homeplace, The Routledge Companion to Seamus Heaney, Editors, Eugene O’Brien & Ian Hickey, Routledge. [Forthcoming]
2026: Poets go a blackberrying, English Review [Work complete, but publication no longer in print].
2025: Fortnight, Issue 497, Review of Short Story anthology 'Take Six', Six Irish Women Writers, edited by Tanya Farrelly.
2023: The Agnews of Kilwaughter, Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review, No. 39
Education
Queen's University (1995-1999): BA Honours, French and History
Ulster University (1999 -2000): MA, Applied Languages & Business
Ulster University (2020-2023): PhD, English
Ulster University (1999 -2000): MA, Applied Languages & Business
Ulster University (2020-2023): PhD, English
Outreach
Irish dancing museum exhibition with Mid and East Antrim Council, 2017.
Seminars on the history of Irish dancing.
Facilitation of Creative Writing courses.
Talks on Ulster Scots writing.
Presentations with schools, NI libraries, NI regional councils, Irish Writer's Centre, Seamus Heaney Homeplace, Ulster University, Queen's University, National Museums NI, Scottish Libraries, Frances Browne Literary Festival, John O'Connor Festival, Irish Network in D.C, Irish American Heritage Museum.
Seminars on the history of Irish dancing.
Facilitation of Creative Writing courses.
Talks on Ulster Scots writing.
Presentations with schools, NI libraries, NI regional councils, Irish Writer's Centre, Seamus Heaney Homeplace, Ulster University, Queen's University, National Museums NI, Scottish Libraries, Frances Browne Literary Festival, John O'Connor Festival, Irish Network in D.C, Irish American Heritage Museum.
Awards & Recognition
Libraries NI, Emerging Author, 2017
Arts Council of Northern Ireland awards 2018, 2020, 2025
Writer in Residency, Ulster University, 2020-2023
Chairperson of Women Aloud NI, 2020
Bangor Poetry Competition - 5th place, 2020
Frances Browne Poetry Competition - Winner, 2021
Commissioned to write a poem alongside three schools for the ‘Looking Back, to Look Forward' centenary poetry project by Mid and East Antrim Council (2021-2022)
Frances Browne Poetry Competition - Spirit of Festival award, 2023
Facilitation of Winning School (Dunclug College) for the Seamus Heaney Poetry Competition, CAP Poetry in Motion facilitation, 2023
Frances Browne Festival (Donegal) Committee Member, from 2024
Commission for Linenhall Library Scotch Fragments Poetry Jukebox Project, 2025
Arts Council of Northern Ireland awards 2018, 2020, 2025
Writer in Residency, Ulster University, 2020-2023
Chairperson of Women Aloud NI, 2020
Bangor Poetry Competition - 5th place, 2020
Frances Browne Poetry Competition - Winner, 2021
Commissioned to write a poem alongside three schools for the ‘Looking Back, to Look Forward' centenary poetry project by Mid and East Antrim Council (2021-2022)
Frances Browne Poetry Competition - Spirit of Festival award, 2023
Facilitation of Winning School (Dunclug College) for the Seamus Heaney Poetry Competition, CAP Poetry in Motion facilitation, 2023
Frances Browne Festival (Donegal) Committee Member, from 2024
Commission for Linenhall Library Scotch Fragments Poetry Jukebox Project, 2025
Read More
Read more about Angeline King:
- Books Ireland Magazine: "Angeline King: This Literary Life" (October 2020) on the award-winning North Star publication and Angeline's literary life.
- The Irish Times - Culture & Books: A national feature article, "An Author in Wonderland", Creative memoir covering Angeline's career transition into novel writing.
- Community Arts Partnership: A multi-part national interview from February 2025 titled "The Monthly Interviews Author Angeline King", documenting Angeline's 11-year writing career and the publishing skills she brought to her career.
- A novel exploration of the shared Gaelic heritage of Ireland and Scotland (Dec 2024): A feature detailing Angeline’s collaboration with writer Ciarán Ó Maitiú and a team of genealogical detectives to uncover the hidden history of the Ó Gnímh (Agnew) poets of Kilwaughter.
*Pen name & maiden name Angeline King. Angeline Kelly for official purposes.
Promotional Photograph
