I grew up in Belfast in the 80s and 90s; I lived through the tail end of the Troubles and was sixteen when the Good Friday Agreement was signed. I loved so much about where I was from, but also, like many people my age, especially those that are LGBTQ+ or in the arts (a fairly eclipsed Venn diagram), I couldn’t wait to get away. I moved to London as soon as I could after school, keen to live the life I had seen in TV shows like ‘This is Life’ and escape the restrictions of the war-torn Christian city I grew up in.
I swore I would never move back.
Back in Belfast
Twenty-odd years later, I am living back in Belfast with a debut novel set in the west of the city, in a fictional estate on the bottom of the Black Mountain, not massively dissimilar to the one I grew up in myself. How did that happen?
Well, one reason is that I am doing the very Irish cliché thing of moving back home. Lots of other Irish writers have written books, plays and poems about the Irish emigrant’s longing to get away and then return to where they are from. It’s a whole thing. I get it now. I spent my adult life trying to get away from where I was from, and yet it was unavoidable. I am a product of the place I was born, the culture that formed me. I have come to not only accept that but love it.
Northern Ireland or the North of Ireland is unlike anywhere else; we have a culture that is Irish, British and both – and also sometimes neither. We have parents and grandparents that lived through bloodshed. We have inherited a history of trauma that is still being unpacked, still being understood, still healing.
It’s a lot, but also, it’s my culture, it’s my ‘normal’, it’s who I am.
The Last Death Poet
The idea for The Last Death Poet came to me a few years ago while I was living in England watching a news report of a riot happening near where some of my family lived. I felt a rush of fear and sadness that younger generations in Belfast were still having to grow up with violence on their doorstep and started to think about what the culture and history meant to them. What did they know about the past? Did they feel defined by it and, like me, did they want to escape?
Belfast has changed so much since I was the age of my characters, but the past is still pulsing. You need only look at the murals or listen to the news to know that we are still navigating the collective past we share here.
I knew I wanted to write about it, but how? I still had my own emotional baggage. There was so much I didn’t know how to talk about or had told myself it was not safe to put into words. That’s an aspect of growing up here: there was a culture of keeping your mouth shut about things. There was so much left unsaid.
That denial became the basis of the story. In an island full of secrets, what would happen if the past erupted from the earth itself into visions that couldn’t be ignored, forcing someone, a death poet, to bear witness and tell the stories that could no longer be ignored?
A Deep Dive into Belfast
With that premise, I was able to start doing a deep dive into the city I grew up in, looking at the history and stories through a lens of understanding and research. I was also able to bring the people of Belfast to life, caring, funny and intelligent people living in a changing city. I created a character who was an outsider, someone raised in London, moving to a city he barely knew. Michael could take the reader, and myself, on a journey to discover this new place, explore the differences from the culture he was raised in and confront his (and my own) assumptions about the city.
While editing the novel last year, I updated it to take place in 2025 as I watched violence take place around so-called anti-immigration protests across the six counties and beyond. I situated my characters and give them the voice to speak out about what they were witnessing, and how it echoed and differed from the sectarian violence of the past.
As I near publication I see more than ever that The Last Death Poet is a love letter to Belfast, and the people who were born and live here. It’s a special place, a changing place, and I hope this book can capture a little of the spirit of this place I am proud to call home.
(c) Stephen Daly
The Last Death Poet is Stephen’s debut YA novel, is published with Rock the Boat in April 2026. An LGBTQ+ coming-of-age novel set in Belfast with a paranormal twist.
About The Last Death Poet:
‘I know about the visions. I have your camera. Call me. Please.’
When Michael is uprooted to Belfast, he isn’t just hoping for a fresh start. He’s determined to discover the truth about his dad’s mysterious absence. But from the moment he arrives, he’s plagued with visions of the city’s troubled past.
Michael begins settling into his new life and even meets a boy who helps erase the painful memories of his ex. But as the visions grow stronger and more intense, the only person he can really confide in is his new friend Meg.
As Meg delves into the supernatural source of the visions, Michael begins to question whether events of the past are linked to his dad’s disappearance.
Can he use his powers to find his dad before he’s gone forever?
Pre-order your copy of The Last Death Poet online here.
And read more from Stephen on Writing.ie here.
