The fiction of Niall Griffiths is filled with movement. Not only are his narratives of violent escapades quick in their pacing, but his characters, by and large, are rootless figures rarely grounded in their community, country, or history. Moving toward new lives, they must also move away from a traumatic past. It is perhaps significant, then, that though Griffiths was born in Toxteth, Liverpool, in 1966, he and his family left for Australia when he was twelve, only to return to Liverpool three years later. Though otherwise well rooted in Liverpool, his working-class family trace their past to Ireland and north Wales. Due to some bouts of bad behaviour in his late teens (drink, drugs, and petty crime), Griffiths was sent on an Outward Bound course in the Snowdonian mountain range. This…
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Citation: Paddy, David Ian. "Niall Griffiths". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 August 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5965, accessed 22 November 2024.]