Angeline King

Angeline King (known professionally as Dr. Angeline Kelly) is a Northern Irish novelist, essayist and poet.[1][2][3] Her work includes fiction, non-fiction and poetry, with a particular focus on Ulster, language, cultural memory, and shared cultural traditions.[4] She has served as writer-in-residence at Ulster University's Coleraine campus, holds a PhD in English, and is known for including Ulster Scots language and international perspectives into contemporary Irish writing.[5]

Writing career

Fiction

King's debut novel, Snugville Street (2015) depicted a French exchange between the working class, Protestant Shankill area of Belfast and Brittany in France, and was described as "enjoyable" in a review in The Irish Times.[6] Her second novel, A Belfast Tale (2016), continued this engagement with urban community and identity.[7][8] The novel was re-published as Road to Snugville Street in 2025. In Dusty Bluebells (2020), a family saga set largely in County Antrim, King made use of Ulster Scots dialect as a literary medium.[9] In The Irish Times, Ruth McKee described the book as being "Pithy with Ulster Scots, old rhymes, cures and sayings, there is a sense of magic to it all".[10] King subsequently translated Dusty Bluebells into Scots.[11] In Scotland, the novel was compared to the work of Jessie Kesson: "Past haunts present across the generations. King gets inside her people... More Jessie Kesson than Kailyard".[12]

A fourth novel, The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew (2025), addresses language and identity in Northern Ireland and draws on King’s childhood experiences.[5] The short novel explores the history of east Antrim's Gaelic bards, the Ó Gnímh / Agnew,[13] and considers the hereditary poets’ contribution, identity and history in the context of a contemporary diary novel.[4][13]

Claire Mitchell, who described Dusty Bluebells as the first 'feminist' book she had read in Ulster Scots,[14] included a chapter on Angeline King in The Ghost Limb, which considers 'Alternative Protestants and the Spirit of 1798'.

King was writer-in-residence at the Ulster University campus in Coleraine from 2020 to 2023.[11]

Selected works

King has published fiction, non-fiction and children's literature.[15][16]

Novels

  • Snugville Street (2015)[6][17][18]
  • A Belfast Tale (2016),[19] re-published as Road to Snugville Street (2025)
  • Dusty Bluebells (2020) & Dusty Bluebells Scots Edition (2021)[9]
  • The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew (2024)[5][13]

Non-fiction

  • Irish Dancing: The Festival Story (2018)[20][21]

Children's literature

  • Children of Latharna (2017)[22]

References

  1. ^ Doyle, Martin (21 November 2016). "An Author in Wonderland". The Irish Times.
  2. ^ Ferguson, Frank (2024). "Still rhyming on weavers". Fortnight. 492: 22–26. JSTOR 27304482.
  3. ^ King, Angeline (2023). "The Agnews of Kilwaughter: hereditary sheriffs, hereditary bards". Familia: Ulster Genealogical Review. 39. Belfast: Ulster Genealogical & Historical Guild: 131–151. OCLC 672009384.
  4. ^ a b Neill, Deborah (July 2025). "Review: Angeline King's The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew". Fortnight (498): 44. JSTOR e27396504.
  5. ^ a b c Bain, Mark (10 July 2024). "Larne author's new novel serves up quare yarn". The Belfast Telegraph.
  6. ^ a b McClements, Freya (14 May 1016). "Snugville Street by Angeline King review". The Irish Times.
  7. ^ Kelly, A (2 March 2016). "In search of the elusive Protestant protagonist in Irish fiction". The Irish Times.
  8. ^ Kelly, A (13 September 2016). "Wanted: A Loveable Protestant Protagonist". The Irish Times.
  9. ^ a b McManus, Helena (10 August 2020). "Larne-set tale seeks to brings Ulster Scots to a wider audience". News Letter.
  10. ^ McKee, Ruth (30 January 2021). "Dusty Bluebells by Angeline King". The Irish Times.
  11. ^ a b Graham, Angela (23 November 2022). "Ulster Scots Writers". The Irish Times.
  12. ^ "Dusty Bluebells by Angeline King". 9 January 2021.
  13. ^ a b c Ó Maitiú, Ciarán (18 December 2024). "A novel exploration of the shared Gaelic heritage of Ireland and Scotland". The Irish Times.
  14. ^ Mitchell, Claire Mitchell (2022). The Ghost Limb: Alternative Protestants and the Spirit of 1798. Belfast: Beyond the Pale Books. pp. 101–113. ISBN 978-1-914318-19-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  15. ^ Henry, Adeline (2025). "Examining the gap in Troubles fiction: A PhD journey". Fortnight. 499: 33–35. JSTOR 27425204.
  16. ^ "The Monthly interviews author Angeline King". Community Arts Partnership. 2025.
  17. ^ Kelly, A (2 March 2016). "In search of the elusive Protestant protagonist in Irish fiction". The Irish Times.
  18. ^ Leonard, Victoria (28 September 2015). "French exchange inspires Larne author's debut book". The Larne Times.
  19. ^ "Identity and Language (Northern Ireland) Bill [Lords]". UK Parliament. 12 October 2022.
  20. ^ "Antiques Road Trip Series 19 Episode 16". BBC One. 27 August 2020.
  21. ^ McAllister, Kelly (18 October 2018). "Irish dancing always part of Protestant culture says Larne author Angeline King". The Irish News.
  22. ^ McCarthy, Mary (2020). "This Literary Life". Books Ireland.
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