🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín is an Irish author of fiction and nonfiction as well as critic. He was born on May 30, 1955, in Enniscorthy County, Wexford, in Ireland. He is the author of several novels, some of which have been made into feature films. His work has also been published around the globe. His novels have been translated into at least 30 languages. He is well known not only in his native country of Ireland but globally for his fiction. He went to school at the University College Dublin. He spent three years living in Barcelona from 1975 to 1978. Barcelona served as future inspiration for his novel The South and Homage to Barcelona. Both novels were published in 1990. Two universities awarded him honorary doctorates. He contributes to a variety of reviews on a regular basis.
All Book Series by Colm Tóibín
Notes on Sontag
Series opener · book 1 of 8 · published 2009 Anthology · Phillip Lopate
What W. H. Auden Can Do for You
Book 4 of 8 · published 2013 Anthology · Alexander McCall Smith
On Henry Miller: Or, How to Be an Anarchist
Book 7 of 8 · published 2018 Anthology · John Burnside
On Seamus Heaney
Latest in the series · book 8 of 8 · published 2020 Anthology · Roy Foster
The Modern Library: The 200 Best Novels in English Since 1950
Book 3 of 19 · published 1999
The Penguin Book of the International Short Story
Latest in the series · book 19 of 19 · published 2026
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Colm Tóibín?
Colm Tóibín is an Irish author of fiction and nonfiction as well as critic. He was born on May 30, 1955, in Enniscorthy County, Wexford, in Ireland. He is the author of several novels, some of which have been made into feature films.
Which Colm Tóibín series should I start with?
The best place to start is the Writers on Writers series, the earliest of Colm Tóibín's multi-book series: it opens with Notes on Sontag (2009) and runs to 8 books across 2009–2020, ending with On Seamus Heaney (2020).
How many books has Colm Tóibín written?
Colm Tóibín has 69 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1985 and 2026. 10 of them belong to 2 named series — the largest being the Writers on Writers series with 8 books — and 59 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Colm Tóibín's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Colm Tóibín's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Writers on Writers (2009–2020, 8 books) and Eilis Lacey (2009–2024, 2 books).
How are Colm Tóibín's books organised into series?
This guide splits Colm Tóibín's 69 books into 2 named series and 59 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Writers on Writers (8 books, 2009–2020); Eilis Lacey (2 books, 2009–2024).