Dermot Healy was born in Finea, Co. Westmeath, in 1947. He is the author of the story collection Banished Misfortune (1982), which won two Hennessay Awards and the Tom Gallon Award, and of two novels, Fighting with Shadows (1984) and A Goat's Song (1994), which won the 1995 Encore Award. He wrote the screenplay for Cathal Black's film, Our Boys, about the Christian Brothers, and his plays include On Broken Wings and Last Night's Fun. Healy has also written a volume of poetry, The Ballyconnell Colours (1992), edited the journal The Drumlin, and was the founding editor of Force 10, which was singled out for praise as one of Ireland's best community arts journals. He is a member of Aosdana and lives near Sligo.
