Mike McCormack | |
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Born | 1965 (age 51–52) |
Occupation | Novelist, short story writer |
Education | English and Philosophy |
Alma mater | University College Galway (UCG) |
Notable works | Notes from a Coma |
Notable awards |
Rooney Prize for Irish Literature 2016 |
Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
1996
Mike McCormack (born 1965) is an Irish novelist and short story writer. He has published two collections of short stories, Getting It In the Head and Forensic Songs and three novels - Crowe's Requiem, Notes from a Coma and Solar Bones. He has been described as "a disgracefully neglected writer.".
McCormack was born in London. He grew up on a farm in Louisburgh, County Mayo, and studied English and philosophy at UCG. In 1996, he was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. In 1998, Getting It In the Head was voted a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. A story from the collection, "The Terms", was adapted into an award-winning short film directed by Johnny O'Reilly.
In 2006, Notes from a Coma was shortlisted for the Irish Book of the Year Award. In 2010, John Waters in The Irish Times described it as "the greatest Irish novel of the decade just ended". It took McCormack seven years to write the book. In May 2016, Dublin publisher Tramp Press published his novel Solar Bones; this went on to win the Goldsmiths Prize. The book was unusual in that it was written as a single sentence. Also in 2016 the book was named "Novel of the Year" by the Irish Book Awards.
He lives in Galway with his wife Maeve.