Christina Reid was born in the Ardoyne area of Belfast. She was educated at Everton Primary and Belfast Model School for Girls. From an early age Reid wrote about other people’s lives, even fictionalising her own diary. In her mid-thirties she embarked on an English Literature degree at Queen’s University, Belfast, which she abandoned when the Lyric Theatre produced her first play Tea in a china cup (1983).
Christina Reid wrote plays for radio, television, and theatre, receiving many awards for works including The Bell of Belfast City (1989), Joyriders (1986), and Clowns (1996). Her work focuses directly on the working class and includes themes of sexism, politics, sectarianism and family. Christina Reid was writer-in-residence at the Lyric Theatre and at the Young Vic.
The Linen Hall Library is privileged to hold the Christina Reid Archive.
