The Ultimate British & Irish Arts Quiz (1700s–Today)

45 challenging questions on authors, artists, playwrights, and musicians from England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland

Instructions: Try to answer all questions before checking the answer key at the end. Questions range from difficult to extremely difficult.

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Authors (Questions 1–12)

1. Which Irish author published A Modest Proposal in 1729, a satirical essay suggesting a shocking solution to poverty?

2. Which Scottish novelist created the character Edward Waverley and is often credited with inventing the historical novel as a major literary form?

3. Which English poet was expelled from Oxford after publishing The Necessity of Atheism?

4. Which Welsh-born poet wrote Fern Hill, Poem in October, and Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night?

5. Which Irish novelist’s final major work, published in 1939, features Anna Livia Plurabelle and HCE?

6. Which English author won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007 and wrote The Golden Notebook?

7. Which Scottish poet wrote the collection The World’s Wife, reimagining myths and history from female perspectives?

8. Which Anglo-Irish novelist authored The Last September and chronicled the decline of the Protestant Ascendancy?

9. Which English writer’s novel Atonement begins with a failed theatrical production staged by a child?

10. Which Northern Irish poet won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1995 and wrote “Digging”?

11. Which English novelist wrote The Remains of the Day and later won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2017?

12. Which Irish author wrote At Swim-Two-Birds, a pioneering metafictional novel published in 1939?

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Artists (Questions 13–24)

13. Which English painter created the series A Rake’s Progress and Marriage A-la-Mode?

14. Which Scottish artist is associated with the Glasgow Style and designed the Glasgow School of Art building?

15. Which Irish-born painter created the triptych Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion?

16. Which Welsh landscape painter became renowned for atmospheric depictions of industrial South Wales?

17. Which English painter became the first President of the Royal Academy of Arts?

18. Which British artist won the Turner Prize in 1995 with works involving formaldehyde-preserved animals?

19. Which English Romantic artist painted The Fighting Temeraire and Rain, Steam and Speed?

20. Which Irish artist created The Meeting on the Turret Stairs and became a leading figure of the Pre-Raphaelite movement?

21. Which Scottish colourist painted works such as The White Jug and Still Life with Fruit?

22. Which English sculptor created Reclining Figure and became one of the most influential sculptors of the twentieth century?

23. Which Welsh-born artist became famous for vividly colored landscapes and flower paintings after settling in France?

24. Which English artist’s 1991 work Everyone I Have Ever Slept With 1963–1995 was later destroyed in a warehouse fire?

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Playwrights (Questions 25–35)

25. Which Irish playwright wrote The Importance of Being Earnest?

26. Which English playwright authored Man and Superman and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925?

27. Which Irish dramatist wrote Waiting for Godot originally in French?

28. Which Scottish playwright wrote The Cheviot, the Stag, and the Black, Black Oil?

29. Which Welsh playwright wrote The Corn Is Green and Under Milk Wood was adapted from his work after his death?

30. Which English playwright’s trilogy The Norman Conquests can be viewed in three overlapping chronological perspectives?

31. Which Northern Irish playwright wrote Translations and co-founded the Field Day Theatre Company?

32. Which English playwright wrote Arcadia, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and The Coast of Utopia?

33. Which Irish playwright received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1923 for works including The Countess Cathleen and Cathleen ni Houlihan?

34. Which Scottish playwright wrote Black Watch, based on the historic Scottish regiment?

35. Which English dramatist wrote Saved, a landmark work of postwar British theatre?

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Musicians & Composers (Questions 36–45)

36. Which Irish composer wrote the nocturne The Last Rose of Summer variations and was celebrated as a piano virtuoso?

37. Which English composer created The Planets suite?

38. Which Welsh singer became internationally famous for songs including “Delilah” and “It’s Not Unusual”?

39. Which Scottish folk musician co-founded the band Fairport Convention and later formed the Albion Band?

40. Which Liverpool-born musician composed the oratorio Liverpool Oratorio with Carl Davis?

41. Which English composer wrote Peter Grimes, Billy Budd, and War Requiem?

42. Which Irish musician’s albums include Astral Weeks and Moondance?

43. Which English progressive-rock musician released the 1973 album Tubular Bells?

44. Which Scottish singer-songwriter released the albums This Is the Sea and Fisherman’s Blues with his band?

45. Which English composer became Master of the King’s Music in 2014 and is known for works such as The Protecting Veil and Song for Athene?

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Answer Key

1. Jonathan Swift
2. Walter Scott
3. Percy Bysshe Shelley
4. Dylan Thomas
5. James Joyce
6. Doris Lessing
7. Carol Ann Duffy
8. Elizabeth Bowen
9. Ian McEwan
10. Seamus Heaney
11. Kazuo Ishiguro
12. Flann O’Brien
13. William Hogarth
14. Charles Rennie Mackintosh
15. Francis Bacon
16. Kyffin Williams
17. Joshua Reynolds
18. Damien Hirst
19. J. M. W. Turner
20. Dante Gabriel Rossetti
21. Samuel Peploe
22. Henry Moore
23. Augustus John
24. Tracey Emin
25. Oscar Wilde
26. George Bernard Shaw
27. Samuel Beckett
28. John McGrath
29. Emlyn Williams
30. Alan Ayckbourn
31. Brian Friel
32. Tom Stoppard
33. W. B. Yeats
34. Gregory Burke
35. Edward Bond
36. John Field
37. Gustav Holst
38. Tom Jones
39. Ashley Hutchings
40. Paul McCartney
41. Benjamin Britten
42. Van Morrison
43. Mike Oldfield
44. Mike Scott
45. John Tavener