Hugo Hamilton is the author of nine novels, a collection of short stories, three stage plays and two memoirs, including the bestselling The Speckled People, the story of his German–Irish childhood in Dublin, where he was prohibited by his revolutionary father from speaking English. His work has won international awards, including the French Prix Femina étranger, the Italian premio Giuseppe Berto and the DAAD scholarship in Berlin. He is a member of Aosdána and lives in Berlin.