Peter Cunningham

Who is Peter Cunningham?

Peter Cunningham is an award winning Irish novelist and newspaper columnist. He grew up in Waterford and was educated at Waterpark School, Glenstal Abbey School and University College Dublin. He worked as an accountant and a trader of commodities until 1986 when his first novel was published. Titled 'Noble Lord', it was a thriller, written under the pseudonym Peter Lauder. Later under the pseudonym Peter Wilben he published the Joe Grace Thriller Series.

He is best known however for the historical novels The Sea And The Silence, Tapes Of The River Delta, Consequences Of The Heart and Love In One Edition, which chronicle the lives of local families during the twentieth century, in Monument, the fictional version of Waterford in south-east Ireland, where Cunningham grew up. His novel, The Taoiseach, which was based on the life of former Irish Taoiseach Charles J. Haughey was a controversial bestseller. Capital Sins, a satirical novel, dealt with the collapse of the Irish economy during the financial crisis that began in 2008.Cunningham’s work has attracted a significant amount of critical attention and praise. The Sea And The Silence was awarded the Prix de l’Europe in 2013.