Neil Jordan was born in 1950 in Sligo. His first book of stories, Night In Tunisia, won the 1979 Guardian fiction prize and his subsequent critically acclaimed novels include The Past, Sunrise with Sea Monster, Shade and Mistaken. The films he has written and directed have won multiple awards, including an Oscar for The Crying Game, a Golden Bear at Venice for Michael Collins, a Silver bear at Berlin for The Butcher Boy and several BAFTAS for Mona Lisa and The End Of The Affair. He is an Officier of the French Ordres Des Artes et Lettres. He lives in Dublin.