Mary O'Malley was born in Connemara in 1954 and educated at University College, Galway. She travels and lectures widely in Europe and America, has written for both radio and television and is a frequent broadcaster. He poems have been translated into several languages. She is a member of the Poetry Council for Ireland. She teaches on the MA in Writing at the National University of Ireland, Galway.

Her previous collections, Where the Rocks Float (1993), The Knife in the Wave (1997) and Asylum Road (2001) have been published by Salmon Poetry.