William Wall is the first European winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize (2017). He is the author of five novels, four collections of poetry and three collections of short fiction. His most recent publications are The Yellow House (Salmon Poetry, 2017) and the short fiction collection The Islands (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2017 and the novel Suzy Suzy (New Island, 2018) ).
He has won numerous prizes for his work including the Drue Heinz Prize, the Virginia Faulkner Award, The Sean O’Faolain Prize, the Patrick Kavanagh Award and several Writers’ Week Prizes. His 2005 novel This Is The Country was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. His work has been translated into many languages and he translates from Italian.
In 2014 he was part of the Italo-Irish Literature Exchange. He was an Irish delegate to the European Writers’ Parliament in Istanbul 2010. For March 2010 he was Writer in Residence at The Princess Grace Irish Library, Monaco. He is a Fellow of The Liguria Centre for the Arts & Humanities. He collaborated with artist Harry Moore to produce the Shadowlands exhibition and book in 2008.
He was born in Cork, Ireland. He studied Philosophy and English at University College Cork. He holds a PhD in creative writing from that University.
‘Wall, who is also a poet, writes prose so charged—at once lyrical and syncopated— that it’s as if Cavafy had decided to write about a violent Irish household.’ The New Yorker
‘These 20 short stories are both laconic and verbose; they hiss, mutter, wink and soar with intent. This resonant little book is in fact very large indeed.’ The Irish Times
‘Wall’s touch with characterisation is light and deft: many illustrate themselves plainly with just a few lines of dialogue.’ The Guardian
‘He is such a writer – lyrical and cruel and bold and with metaphors to die for.’ Kate Atkinson

‘Evocative, moving yet tough-minded, written with marvelous style and authority—after just the first few sentences, we trust absolutely that this writer is in control and knows what he is doing’ David Gates.