Hamnet author Maggie O’Farrell on the forthcoming film, and what makes a good screen adaptation 

The film version of Hamnet - adapted from the Co Derry writer's novel about the Shakespeare family and grief - is being heavily tipped for Oscars glory 

 Maggie O'Farrell: The Coleraine author published Hamnet in 2019. 

The world of movies is so far removed from her normal life as a novelist, but Maggie O’Farrell is clearly relishing the opportunity she had to bring her characters to the big screen as co-screenwriter for Oscar-tipped Hamnet.

It’s a story of love, loss and grief, imagining the impact of the death of Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son on him and more specifically on his wife, Agnes, and how grief inspired the playwright’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet. It stars Irish duo Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley as the grieving parents.