Niall Griffiths was born on 1966 and is an English author of novels and short stories, set predominantly in Wales.
13 Facts About Niall Griffiths
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Niall Griffiths's works include the novels Grits and Sheepshagger, travel guides to Aberystwyth and Liverpool, and a book of poetry.
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Niall Griffiths has won the Wales Book of the Year award twice, for Stump in 2004 and Broken Ghost in 2020.
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Berry, who wrote from the viewpoint of the industrial working class, but in a more earthy and centred style than many of his more celebrated peers, "spoke" to Niall Griffiths who was captured by the language and style of the writing.
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In future years Niall Griffiths continued to cite Berry as a major influence, along with writers Alexander Trocchi and Hubert Selby Jr.
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Niall Griffiths found himself in trouble with the law during his adolescence, and at the age of 15 he was sent on an Outward Bound course in Snowdonia in North Wales.
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Niall Griffiths found the experience uplifting and refocused him to work harder at gaining an education, eventually gaining a degree in English.
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Niall Griffiths followed this by researching his first novel, which would follow disaffected and marginalised characters, living ordinary lives.
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Niall Griffiths has "a fierce loyalty" to the city of his birth, but has lived "most of his life near Aberystwyth".
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Niall Griffiths followed up Grits with Sheepshagger, a novel centred on a feral mountain boy named Ianto, which received strong reviews.
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Niall Griffiths followed this with a book of prose, The Dreams of Max and Ronnie.
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Two years later Niall Griffiths released his first collection of poetry, Red Roar: 20 Years of Words.
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In 2019, Niall Griffiths published Broken Ghost, a novel exploring the aftermath of a vision experienced by three people on a Welsh mountain.