Binchy, Maeve (1940– )

Irish journalist and author. Born in Dublin and educated at University College, Dublin, the city and its environs often form a backdrop to her work. She has written a number of plays, but is best known as a writer of short stories and novels. Among her collections of short stories are Victoria Line, Central Line (1987) and Dublin 4 (1982). Her novels usually involve the lives of ordinary people, and include Light a Penny Candle (1982), Firefly Summer (1987), Circle of Friends (1990; filmed 1995), The Copper Beech (1992), The Glass Lake (1994), Evening Class (1996), Tara Road (1998), Scarlet Feather (2001), and Quentins (2002).

Binchy worked as a teacher and part-time travel writer before joining the Irish Times in 1969, later becoming the paper's London correspondent. She wrote for the paper until she announced her retirement in 2000, saying that Scarlet Feather would be her last. Several of her plays have been staged in Dublin, and she won awards both at home and abroad for her television play Deeply Regretted By (1979).