Peter Straughan facts for kids

Peter Straughan (born 1968) is a British playwright, screenwriter and author, based in the north-east of England. He was writer-in-residence at Newcastle's Live Theatre Company. Whilst there, Live staged his plays Bones and Noir. He has been commended for having a talent for writing dark and twisted stories.

Early life

Straughan's first ambition was to be a professional musician and he achieved this while playing bass guitar with Newcastle-based band The Honest Johns. He spent four years touring and recording with the band through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s before leaving to take up full-time education at Newcastle University. While Straughan was a student he was also a member of the band Cactusman. He wrote the song "Killer", which appeared on the CD album North of London, a collection of music by North East bands released through Newcastle Arts.

Screenwriting

Straughan co-wrote the 2006 feature film, Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution and adapted Toby Young's memoir How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. He is the writer of the 2009 film The Men Who Stare at Goats, and co-writer of the 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay, a screenplay he wrote in collaboration with his late wife Bridget O'Connor. O'Connor died of cancer, aged 49, in 2010, before the film was released. They were awarded a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.

He adapted Wolf Hall for television. Series 2 of Wolf Hall was confirmed to be in development on 27 May 2019.

In 2025, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for Conclave.

Filmography

Short film

Film writer

• Sixty Six (2006)
• Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution (2007)
• How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008)
• The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)
• The Debt (2010)
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
• Frank (2014)
• Our Brand Is Crisis (2015)
• The Snowman (2017)
• The Goldfinch (2019)
• Conclave (2024)
• Crime 101 (2025)

Television

Awards and nominations