Jennifer Johnston is a preeminent voice of contemporary Irish fiction. Her long list of accolades includes the Whitbread Literary Award for "The Old Jest", the Evening Standard Award for Best First Novel for "The Captains and the Kings", and a Man Booker Prize shortlist mention for "Shadows on Our Skin". Her recent "Foolish Mortals" was shortlisted for the Irish Book of the Decade by the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards. Johnston has authored seventeen novels and five plays. She lives outside Derry, Northern Ireland.