John Connolly

John Connolly was born in Dublin in 1968. Before his novel writing days, he worked a number of different jobs including that of a journalist, barman, local government official, waiter and gofer at Harrods department store in London. He spent time at Trinity College, Dublin, graduating with a BA in English, and at Dublin City University, where he did an MA in journalism. The latter of these led to him working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times, a newspaper which he still writes for.

His first novel, Every Dead Thing, was published in 1999. It was the first of the crime and supernatural blended Charlie Parker series which now includes Dark Hollow (2000), The Killing Kind (2001) The White Road (2002), The Black Angel (2005), The Uniquet (2007), The Reapers (2008), The Lovers (2009), The Whisperers (2010) and The Burning Soul (2011). Every Dead Thing received a nomination for the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel and won the 2000 Shamus Award for Best First Private Eye Novel – making him the first outside the U.S. to do so.

Bad Men (2003) is his first non-Charlie Parker crime novel. The Book of Lost Things (2006) which tells the tale of a young boy's coming-of-age journey through a fantasy realm in World War II England. In 2009, he released The Gates, the first of a young adult series. Its sequel The Infernals/Hell’s Bells came out in 2011.

Nocturnes, a collection of novellas and short stories published in 2004, now has two film adaptations, one of which is still in the works. The New Daughter (2009) starring Kevin Costner was partially based on a short story from Nocturnes. Film adaptations are also proceeding for The Book of Lost Things and Bad Men (whose film counterpart will be Sanctuary).

Connolly now resides in Dublin but splits his time between the city and the United States. He can be found on Twitter, Facebook and his website.

Bio by Leona O’Hanlon