Moya Cannon is originally from Co. Donegal, she has spent most of her adult life in Galway and now lives in Dublin. She has represented Ireland at many international festivals and conferences, in Japan, India, the US and many European and South American countries. Her work has been widely translated. She studied History and Politics at University College Dublin and International Relations at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. A native speaker of Irish, for many years she taught adolescent traveller children. She has taught creative writing at the National University of Ireland, Galway and was director of the International Writers' Course at NUIG. A winner of the Brendan Behan award and of the Lawrence O Shaughnessy award, she has edited Poetry Ireland Review and was 2011 Heimbold Professor of Irish Studies at Villanova University. She is a member of Aosdana, the Irish affiliation of creative artists. She has a deep interest in music and enjoys performing with musicians.