Born in Co. Clare, Edna O’Brien is one of the finest Irish novelists writing today. Mary Gordon in The New York Times Book Review praised her for having “the courage and sureness of vision to derive from the singularity of her characters’ experience general truths about the world.”

The author of 18 books, including A Fanatic Heart, The Country Girls Trilogy and most recently House of Splendid Isolation, O’Brien has a huge audience in the United States. Described by Publisher’s Weekly as “one of the most formidable stylists writing today in English,” O’Brien has also proven to be an eloquent and passionate spokesperson for the nationalist community in Ireland, with her articles appearing frequently on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times.

O’Brien is a frequent visitor to the United States and has taught at Johns Hopkins University and Queens College. Her upcoming novel, Down by the River, will be published this spring.