Short bio

Hilary McCollum is the author of two novels, a childhood memoir and four plays. Inspired by real events, her second novel, As a Lover (Bella Books, release date 2026), interweaves a heroic battle against censorship with a tender coming-of-age love story. Hilary is a creative activist on violence against women and girls, lesbian visibility, and the environment.

Longer bio

Hilary McCollum is the author of two novels, a childhood memoir and four plays. Her forthcoming novel, As a Lover (Bella Books, release date 21/04/26), interweaves a heroic battle against censorship with a tender coming-of-age love. It was inspired by the true story of the suppression of the first openly lesbian novel written in English, Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness. Hilary’s first novel, Golddigger (Bella Books, 2015), won the 2016 Golden Crown Literary Society Prize for historical fiction. She completed a PhD in creative writing at the Seamus Heaney Centre in 2021. Hilary is a creative activist on violence against women and girls, lesbian visibility, and the environment. She lives on the Antrim coast with her partner, cat and two dogs.