Fergal O'Byrne is an award-winning writer for print, stage and screen. His debut novel Trolley Ride in Manhattan (Mentor Books, 2000) has become a cult classic in the USA. His recent collection of short stories Careful What You Wish For (Watermark Press) was published in 2022. His newest collection, Thank the DJs, will be published in October 2024.
His short story, Sweetpea, was a winner in the Colm Tóibin International Short Story Award 2022. Standard Model was shortlisted for the FISH Publishing Award 2022, another story Ribeye was Longlisted for the prestigious Alpine Fellowship 2020. He has twice made the short/long list for the prestigious John McGahern Award (2021 and 2022).
In 2020 Fergal’s award-winning play Extremophiles received its world premiere in Copenhagen, directed by Claus Bue. This was followed by the second play of his Location Trilogy, Rub-a-dub-dub, which premiered in 2022, also directed by Claus Bue. The third play of the trilogy, Same Shit Different Planet, was staged in 2023 and directed by Ian Burns. These were all produced by That Theatre Company. The Light, directed by Barry McKenna, was premiered in 2024 and starred Maja Muhlack and Claus Bue. His latest play, Glass Ceiling, will be staged in early 2025.
His stage work has garnered multiple awards, including A Dragon's Tale (Eamon Keane Award 2013), Folie-a-Deux (Listowel 2015) and Extremophiles (Eamon Keane Award 2018, Papatango 2018 and NEWvember Festival 2017). He has also written several radio plays aired by Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE.
Award winning short movie credits include Eyes Wide Open (2017 Silver Screen Award Nevada, Miami, Berlin Festivals) Ribeye (2016 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards) and Glass Ceiling (2014 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards). His short film Belinda received its world premiere at the NewFilm Makers LA Festival in July 2024, directed by Maureen Payne-Hahner featuring Annemette Andersen and Claus Bue.
Work on TV and GIFT, a sitcom in development. His feature movie debut, UNSAID, is in development with an Irish-Danish co-production and will be released in late 2025.
Fergal divides his time between Ireland and Denmark and is married with twin daughters.