Reid, Forrest (1875-1947)

Irish writer. Born in Belfast, Reid is best known for his deft recreations of boyhood in the trilogy of novels about Tom Barber: Uncle Stephen (1931), The Retreat (1936), and Young Tom (1944), the latter winning the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. All Reid's novels focus on the coming of age of a young male protagonist and are often strongly autobiographical.

Reid studied at the Royal Belfast Academical Institute, and was encouraged to write by English novelist E M Forster. He also wrote critical analyses of the poets W B Yeats and Walter de la Mare.