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Niall Griffiths (1966- ) is a writer of novels and short stories who lives near Aberystwyth. Born in Liverpool, his family had strong Welsh connections and most of his work is set in Wales. It was a Welsh writer, Ron Berry, who initially inspired Griffiths's desire to portray the underside of society in unromantic and politically conscious prose, and it was an Outward Bound course in Snowdonia which Griffiths attended after getting into trouble as a teenager that convinced him of the value of education. As a child, Griffiths also lived in Australia when his family moved there for three years, and he would later return to compare his travels there as an adult with his childhood memories.
After spending some time in low-paid jobs, Griffiths took a degree in English and was accepted for a PhD scholarship in poetry at Aberystwyth, which he failed to complete. His research continued, however, and his interest in the disaffected margins of society in rural Wales led to his first novel, Grits, which was published in 2000 to widespread critical acclaim. His later work followed similar themes, and in 2003 Stump won awards as both the Welsh Books Council Book of the Year and the Arts Council of Wales Book of the Year.
In 2015, Griffiths released his first collection of poetry, Red Roar: 20 Years of Words.