Colin Barrett is from County Mayo, Ireland. In 2009 he was awarded the Penguin Ireland Prize, and his debut collection Young Skins won The Rooney Prize, The Frank O'Connor International Short Story Prize, The Guardian First Book Award and was a National Book Foundation "5 Under 35". In 2018 he was announced as the Rolex Arts Initiative Literary Protege, mentored by Colm Toibin. His stories have appeared in New Yorker, The Stinging Fly, New Statesman, Harper's and on BBC Radio 4.