Banville, John
John Banville, novelist and playwright, was born in Wexford, Ireland, in 1945, the youngest of three children. His brother and sister have also published novels. His own novels include Birchwood (1973), The Book of Evidence (1989), The Untouchable (1997), The Sea (2005) and The Infinities (2009). He also publishes crime novels under the name Benjamin Black. He has won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, the Booker Prize and the Irish Book Awards Novel of the Year.