Orna Ross


Orna Ross is an Irish author, former literary agent, blogger and an advocate for creativism. She is the founder of the Alliance for Independent Authors, a professional association for authors who self-publish their work, and has been named one of the top 100 most influential people in publishing by The Bookseller, the UK publishing trade magazine.

Early life

Ross was born in Waterford, Ireland and was raised in Murrintown, County Wexford. She attended Murrintown National School and the Loreto Convent Wexford. She completed two degrees at the University College Dublin, including a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and a Master’s Degree in Women’s Studies. She also worked for some years as a lecturer in culture and creativity studies at UCD, teaching a groundbreaking Creative & Imaginative Practice course that forms the basis of her Go Creative! book series.

Career

Writing career

Ross published her first two books, A Lover’s Hollow and A Dance in Time, with Penguin Books. In 2012 she self-published the first two books in a forthcoming trilogy, The Irish Trilogy I: After the Rising and The Irish Trilogy II: Before the Fall, She has since gone on to self-publish her next two works of fiction, Blue Mercy and The Secret Rose, a tribute to W.B. Yeats.
In 2015, Ross contributed a volume to Outside the Box: Women Writing Women. She collaborated on the box set of novels with six other female writers. Ross’ works of fiction are often set in her home country of Ireland, family drama sagas that have been lauded by the Sunday Independent, Irish Times, RTÉ Guide and many other review outlets.

Alliance of Independent Authors

Ross believes strongly in the benefits of self-publishing for authors both established and just starting out in their careers. In 2012, she launched the Alliance of Independent Authors, a not for profit organization that aims to protect the rights of writers and promote self-published books.
In her capacity as the head of ALLi she has advised the BBC on publishing costs for an independent author. In 2014, she was referred to by The Guardian as an “indie star” of the writing world, and featured on the Guardian Books Podcast.

Works and appearances

Fiction

She has been married for over thirty years, and has two children named Ornagh and Ross. She currently lives and writes in London.