Literary Road Map of Islington

Celebrate our borough's long, rich heritage of authors, screenwriters, poets and writers who live or work here

Literary Road Map of Islington celebrates our borough’s long, rich heritage of authors, screenwriters, poets and writers who have lived here, and the literary works which have been inspired by or set here.

Search the list below to see the novels, plays and poems which were written about Islington and the authors, such as Andrea Levy (1956-2019), who were born or lived in the borough, or Charles Dickens (1812-1870, who used various locations around Islington in their novels.

Also, look at our interactive map to see the literary connections to your area of Islington. To do this click on ‘Show Layers’, ‘Recreation & Leisure’ and check the ‘Literary Road Map’ box.

 

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  • North

Fiegel, Eddi

John Barry - A Sixties Theme (2012). The journalist and author has written widely on music biography and travel and lives in north Islington.

Greenaway, Kate

1846-1901

Under the Window (1879) and other titles. The children’s book writer and illustrator lived at 147 Upper Street and 11 Pemberton Gardens.

Grossmith, George and Weedon

1847-1912 and 1854-1919

The Diary of a Nobody (1892). The Pooters live at The Laurels, Brickfield Terrace, Holloway, a fictional address which is reputed to be based on Pemberton Gardens.

Hamand, Maggie

Writer in residence at Holloway Prison 2000/1.

Hegley, John

1953-

Visions of the Bone Idol (1984) and other titles. The poet and musician, grew up in Beversbrook Road.

Heller, Zoe

1965-

Notes on a Scandal (2003). The narrator of the book, Barbara Covett, lives in Archway and works at St George’s, a fictional local secondary school.

Holland, Tom

(1968-)

Rubicon: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Roman Republic (2003) and other titles. The writer and historian lived at 47 Loraine Road in 1995.

Hornby, Nick

1957-

Fever Pitch (1992), High Fidelity (1995), About A Boy (1998) and other titles. Hornby lives in Highbury and sets much of his work around the area.

Horowitz, Anthony

1955 -

The House of Silk (2011). Sherlock Holmes escapes from Holloway Prison.

James, Clive

1939-

Falling Towards England (1985) and other titles. Lived in Tufnell Park in “a first floor horror of a room at the high end of Tufnell Park Road” in 1962.

Jones, Nicolette

The Plimsoll Sensation (2007). Lives in Plimsoll Road.

Lane, Harriet

1969-

Her (2014). A novel set in Archway and Highgate.