Stephen Gilbert was born at Newcastle, County Down (Northern Ireland). He worked for the Northern Whig until the mid-1930s when he joined the family firm of McCausland in Belfast. In 1939 he joined the Supplementary Reserve and served with the 3rd Ulster Searchlight Regiment in France. His wartime memories, including the evacuation at Dunkirk, form the basis of Bombardier (1944).

Gilbert was a friend and protege of Forrest Reid

Forrest Reid

Forrest Reid was an Irish novelist, literary critic and translator. He was, along with Hugh Walpole and J.M. Barrie, a leading pre-war British novelist of boyhood...

.

His last novel, Ratman's Notebooks

Ratman's Notebooks

Ratman's Notebooks is a short novel published in 1969. It was written by Stephen Gilbert , who was born in 1912, in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. The short work features an unnamed misfit who relates better to rats than to humans. It was the basis for the films Willard, Ben, and the...

 (1968), was filmed as Willard (1971 film)

Willard (1971 film)

Willard is a 1971 horror film starring Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, directed by Daniel Mann. The movie is based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert, and was nominated for an Edgar Award for best picture...

.

Stephen Gilbert died at a nursing home at Whitehead, north of Carrickfergus, County Antrim on 23 June 2010., ,

Published works

The landslide (1943)

Bombardier (1944)

Monkeyface (1948)

The Burnaby experiments (1952)

Ratman's Notebooks

Ratman's Notebooks

Ratman's Notebooks is a short novel published in 1969. It was written by Stephen Gilbert , who was born in 1912, in Newcastle, County Down, Northern Ireland. The short work features an unnamed misfit who relates better to rats than to humans. It was the basis for the films Willard, Ben, and the...

(1968)

See Also

Stephen Gilbert Manuscript Collection at Queen's University Belfast