Irish author John Banville is esteemed for his masterful prose, as well as an experimental writing style that challenges the traditional form of the novel. His extensive list of works includes award-winning novels Kepler, The Book of Evidence, and The Sea, winner of the 2005 Man Booker Prize for fiction. Alan Furst writes, "Christine Falls is a triumph, of classical crime fiction, finely, carefully made, not a single false move or wrong word.”

Dublin-born Colum McCann’s ambitious fictional biography, Dancer, was a bestseller and recipient of rave reviews. His short story collections are Fishing the Sloe-Black River and Everything in this Country Must, the title story of which was adapted for film and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Live Action Short. His previous novels include Song Dogs and This Side of Brightness;Zoli is set among the Roma of Slovakia, circa World War II.