Nick Laird
| Nick Laird | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1975 (age 41–42) Cookstown, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Novelist, poet |
| Nationality | Northern Irish |
| Period | 2005–present |
| Spouse | Zadie Smith (2004–present) |
| Children | 2 |
Nicholas "Nick" Laird (born 1975) is a Northern Irish novelist and poet.
He studied at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, where he attained a first in English, and won the "Arthur Quiller-Couch Award for Creative Writing". He went on to work at the law firm Allen & Overy in London for six years, before leaving to concentrate on his writing.
Laird met Zadie Smith at Cambridge University. They married in 2004 in the Chapel of King's College, Cambridge. Smith dedicated her third novel entitled On Beauty to "my dear Laird". The couple have lived in Monti, Rome, Italy, from November 2006 to 2007 and are now based between New York City and Queen's Park, London. They have two children, Katherine (Kit) and Harvey.
As of 2009, Laird has written two novels, Utterly Monkey and Glover's Mistake, and two prize-winning books of poems, To a Fault and On Purpose.
Utterly Monkey is a novel that questions the notion of loyalty: where our loyalties actually lie, and where perhaps they should. It was published in May 2005 by Fourth Estate, and by Harper Perennial in the US. It follows the relationship of two childhood friends from Northern Ireland.
One of them, Danny, grew up to be a lawyer after attaining an education in London, while the other, Geordie, works as a labourer, and did not pursue extensive studies after school. Laird has described Geordie as "more feckless than Danny," and "a kind of a drifter."
The novel also explores the endemic inter- and intrasectarian political and military conflict within Northern Ireland known as The Troubles. When asked whether or not Americans are able to comprehend and identify with the experiences of people in Northern Ireland, Laird replied: "I think they can, but I don't think they do," and cited the "low level of discourse" that he has encountered in regard to this subject when he travels to America.
To a Fault is Laird's first collection of poems, and was nominated for the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. It explores the sharp edge of relationships against social and political backdrops; "the fault" that unites the poems lying in the paradoxes of relationships: needing to remain both in and outside; desiring the security of home but the excitement of flight. To a Fault was published by Faber and Faber in January 2005.
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