Peter Berresford Ellis

Peter Berresford Ellis

Peter Berresford Ellis (born 10 March 1943 in Coventry) is an English historian, literary biographer, and novelist who has published over 90 books to date either under his own name or his pseudonyms Peter Tremayne and Peter MacAlan. He has also published 95 short stories. Under Peter Tremayne, he is the author of the international bestselling Sister Fidelma mystery series. His work has appeared in 25 languages.

Early life

Peter Berresford Ellis was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England. His father was a Cork-born journalist who started his career on the Cork Examiner.^[1] The Ellis family can be traced in the area from 1288.^[2] His mother was from an old Sussex family of Saxon origin which traces its lineage back through fourteen generations in the same area. Her mother was of Breton descent.^[3] Educated at Brighton College of Art and the University of London, Ellis took a first class honours degree and his MA in Celtic Studies at the North East London Polytechnic, now assimilated as part of the University of East London, and graduated in 1989.^[4]

Work and writing career

He began his career as a junior reporter on an English south coast weekly, becoming deputy editor of an Irish weekly newspaper and was then editor of a weekly trade journal in London. He first went as a feature writer to Northern Ireland in 1964 for a London daily newspaper which had a profound effect on him. His first book was published in 1968: Wales: a Nation Again, on the Welsh struggle for political independence, with a foreword by Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru's first M.P.^{[citation needed]}

In 1975 he became a full-time writer. He used his academic background to produce many popular titles in the field of Celtic Studies and he has written numerous academic articles and papers in the field for journals ranging from The Linguist (London) to The Irish Sword: Journal of the Irish Military History Society (UCD). He was described by The Times Higher Education Supplement (June 1999) as one of the leading authorities on the Celts then writing. He has been International Chairman of the Celtic League 1988–90; chairman of Scrif-Celt (The Celtic Languages Book Fair in 1985 and in 1986); chairman and vice-president of the London Association for Celtic Education 1989–1995, and now is an Hon. Life Member).^{[citation needed]}

He was also chairman of his local ward Labour Party in London, England, and was editorial advisor on Labour and Ireland magazine in the early 1990s. He is a member of the Society of Authors.^{[citation needed]}

Interest in popular fiction

Apart from his Celtic Studies interests, Ellis has always been fascinated by aspects of popular literature and has written full-length biographies on H. Rider Haggard, W. E. Johns, Talbot Mundy as well as critical essays on many more popular fiction authors. His own output in the fictional field, writing in the genre of horror fantasy and heroic fantasy, began in 1977 when the first "Peter Tremayne" book appeared. Between 1983 and 1993 he also wrote eight adventure thrillers under the name "Peter MacAlan".^[5]

Ellis has published (as of January 2009) a total of 91 books, 95 short stories, several pamphlets, and numerous academic papers and signed journalistic articles. Under his own name he wrote two long running columns: 'Anonn is Anall' (Here and There) from 1987–2008 for the Irish Democrat, and, "Anois agus Arís" (Now and Again) from 2000–2008 for The Irish Post. His books break down into 34 titles under his own name; 8 titles under the pseudonym of Peter MacAlan and 49 titles under his pseudonym of Peter Tremayne. He has lectured widely at universities in several countries, including the UK, Ireland, American, Canada, France and Italy. He has also broadcast on television and radio since 1968.^[6]

With the great popularity of his 7th Century set Sister Fidelma Mysteries, in January, 2001, an International Sister Fidelma Society was formed in Charleston, South Carolina, with a website and producing a print magazine three times a year called The Brehon.^[7]

Awards and honours

He was given a D. Litt (honoris causa) by the University of East London in 2006 in recognition of his work.^[8] He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland (1996) and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (1998). He has received numerous awards and honours for his work such as a Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd (1987) for his work on the history of the Cornish language – The Cornish Language and its Literature (published in 1974); an Irish Post Award (1989); Hon. Life President of the Scottish 1820 Society (1989); Hon. Life Member of the Irish Literary Society (2002); he was given a civic reception by the Mayor and Council of Cashel, County Tipperary (2004) – the highest civic award bestowed by Cashel.^[9] A profile of, and tribute to, Ellis and his work as an historian is scheduled to appear in History Ireland, Vol 17, No 5 September/October, 2009.

See also

• Bibliography of Peter Berresford Ellis

References

1. ^ White, Gerry & O'Shea, Brendan (2006) The Burning of Cork. Cork: Mercier Press
2. ^ The Ellis Family of Millstreet, Millstreet: a Considerable Town: Aubane Historical Society, 2003
3. ^ Ellis, Eva Daisy (Randell) (2003) Daisy: growing up in a Sussex village. Hurstpierpoint Historical Society
4. ^ "NELP GRADUATES". http://www.uel.ac.uk/alumni/groups/nelp.htm. 
5. ^ Book and Magazine Collector, London, March, 1993 (contains an overview of life and work and bibliography to that date).
6. ^ Other details of his fiction work and career are contained in the Tremayne entries in The Encyclopaedia of Fantasy ed. John Clute and John Grant, St Martin's Press, New York, and Little Brown, London, 1997; The Mammoth Encyclopedia of Modern Crime Fiction, ed. Mike Ashley, Robinson, London, and Carroll & Graf, USA, 2002; and Supernatural Literature of the World: an encyclopaedia, edit. S. T. Joshi and Stefan Dziemianowicz, 3 vols. Greenwood Press, Westport, CT, 3 vols, 2005.
7. ^ Book and Magazine Collector, London, October 2004 (contains a detailed look at the Sister Fidelma Mysteries); details of his work and career are also posted at the International Sister Fidelma Society website.
8. ^ ,"Honorary Awards". http://www.uel.ac.uk/news/latest_news/stories/damon.htm. 
9. ^ Entries on Ellis's career at various times can be taken from his entries in the following reference works: International Authors and Writer's Who's Who (Cambridge, England) from 8th ed 1977 onwards; Contemporary Authors (Detroit) from Vols 81, 1979, onwards; Who's Who in the World (Chicago), 5th ed. 1980 onwards; European Biographical Directory (Belgium) 1990); Who's Who in International Affairs (London), 1990; Who's Who of Authors and Writers (Europa Publications), 2004; The Cambridge Blue Book, (Cambridge, England), 2005; The Writers' Directory (Detroit),2005.

External links

• The Celtic League
• International Sister Fidelma Society
• Peter Tremayne's Author Page at Minotaur Books

Persondata
Name	Ellis, Peter Berresford
Alternative names
Short description	English historian, literary biographer, and novelist
Date of birth	10 March 1943
Place of birth	Coventry, Warwickshire, England, UK
Date of death
Place of death