Author Angeline King launches new book 'The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew'

The local writer first started work on the novel as part of her PhD in creative writing at Ulster University, where she was Writer in Residence from 2020 until 2023.

Set in Ballygally, Craigyhill and Kilwaughter in the summer of 1995, the diary centres on the summer experiences of teenager Stephanie, who works at the Ballygally Castle Hotel. “On storytelling night in the Dungeon bar, the storyteller talks of a hereditary poet who lived at the end of Stephanie's garden,” said Angeline. “The name is Brían Ó Gnímh, but it soon becomes apparent that the clan name, pronounced Ogneeve, is also transcribed Agnew.

"The novel was inspired by the discovery that Larne was once a centre of Irish poetry. The Agnew poets of Larne and Kilwaughter held the hereditary title of ollamh, pronounced ollav, which means they were at the top of their profession. There was Brían, who references Larne in a 1570s poem; Fear Flatha, who may have connected with Lisdrumbard and several townlands that are now in the Moordyke/Rory's Glen area of Kilwaughter; and Eoín, who sold the manuscripts to a Welsh collector in Larne in 1700.

"There was also a Moal Muíre in the mid-1600s, whose family may have taken the name Moore. There were five quarterlands associated with the poets, which were known as both the Ogneeve and Agnew lands. These lands seem to run down from modern-day Moordyke as far as Headwood, stopping at the ‘Larne’ River, though I hadn't fully established this when writing the novel, so I place the poets beyond this area."

Love of history

‘The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew’ is not the first of Angeline’s novels to weave the intertwining Ulster Scots and Gaelic dialects of the wider Larne area into the fabric of the story. Published in 2020, ‘Dusty Bluebells’ drew inspiration from the author's own experiences of growing up in the seaside town. Central also to Stephanie’s tale was the history of the Agnew family - still a common surname in the east Antrim region. “Several other Agnew families settled in Larne in the early 1600s, not least the family who would go on to own Kilwaughter Castle and later, much of east Antrim,” Angeline added. “The poets were likely to be Catholic, like the MacDonnells, but there were also Presbyterian Ogneeves, and John Ogneeve of Ballyhampton, Greenland and Ballycraigy is a strong candidate for the father of future castle owner, Patrick.

"The Agnew sheriffs of Galloway, who wrote in the Scots language, also owned land in Kilwaughter parish, which is right beside the poets' land, stretching up as far as modern-day Millbrook. The Agnew story gives us a glimpse of the fascinating melting pot of identity and language in the 1600s, and this is inspiring for Stephanie, who rebels against identity silos.”

Originally called Dear William, The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew was written as part of a PhD project that Angeline completed between 2020 and 2023. “I was Writer in Residence at the university at that time and supervised by a brilliant team – Dr Frank Ferguson, Dr Kathleen McCracken and Dr Andrew Keanie,” she said.

"My love of history ended up taking over; to this day I am still researching the Agnews. The big mystery to crack was: do the Agnew poets belong to the same clan as the Agnews of Galloway? The answer is not yet settled, but I enjoyed seeing all the layers of identity between Galloway and Larne come together. I also made some good friends along the way and am grateful for the constant input from Agnew enthusiasts Ciarán Ó Maitiú, Jacqueline Agnew, Linda Hooke and Ryan Greer.”

Writing ‘always a pleasure’

The creative process of writing the novel, meanwhile, was a boon during the second Covid lockdown, during which part of the tale was written. Angeline recalled: “Writing the novel was the easy bit, though I started off the PhD at the age of 45 with 20/20 vision and went up two glasses prescriptions within the first two years! There were other topics to research like dialect in diary novels and female novelists who write in Scots and Ulster Scots, so I had a lot of reading to do. The writing was always a pleasure, and was informed by all the reading. I was writing in the bleak winter lockdown of late 2020 and early 2021, and found that humour was the best way to get through it. So, Stephanie is implicated in a few slapstick scenes.”

And for any aspiring writers who are trying to get their first book onto the page, Angeline has this advice: “Dinnae be feart! It'll be okay. You'll be doing Olympic gymnastics with your brain, so give it a rest from time to time.”

Angeline is due to be signing copies of ‘The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew’ and chatting about the book in Larne Library on Saturday, August 24 at 11am, followed by The Secret Bookshelf in Carrick on Thursday, August 29 at 6pm. “I also have an upcoming launch at Ulster University and I'll be presenting at both Turas in east Belfast and Cultúrlaan in Derry some time in autumn. I also hope to make it to Stranraer soon, as the story is partly set there,” the local author added.