Irish author and journalist, also known under the pen name Benjamin Black. His 1989 novel The Explanation of Facts won the Man Booker Prize in 2005, while The Sea was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. He was awarded the Franz Kafka Prize in 2011. He worked as an editor for several newspapers in Ireland and was elected to the Aosdána artists' association in 1984. He retired from the organization in 2001 so that another author may be given the yearly stipend. He was nominated Cavaliere della Stella d’Italia in 2007. He has authored stage and television screenplays. His most recent novel, The Killer's Doubt, was published in Italy in 2022.