Colum McCann, an Irish fiction writer who lives in New York City, has garnered literary prizes and critical attention in Europe, particularly Ireland, and North America. His writing compels such interest because of his inventive images and symbols, his rich poetic language, and his explorations of international characters who often live on the margins of society in Ireland and America.

McCann was born 28 February 1965 and raised in Deansgrange, south County Dublin, to Sean McCann and Sally (née McGonigle) McCann. His father, also a writer, had been born and raised in Dublin, while his homemaker mother had come from Garvagh, County Derry, in Northern Ireland; her family and community have greatly influenced McCann, who returns there annually. Sean McCann is known in Dublin journalistic and literary circles as an editor who encourages new writers; he has written twenty-eight nonfiction and children's books and long worked as the...