Mary Costello is from the west of Ireland. Her short story collection, The China Factory (2012) was nominated for the Guardian First Book Award and shortlisted for an Irish Book Award. Her first novel, Academy Street (2014) was named Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards and was shortlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, the Costa First Novel Award and the EU Prize for Literature. Her second novel, The River Capture (2019) is shortlisted for Novel of the Year (Irish Book Awards).