Irish · b. 1955
Colm Tóibín has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize three times—for "The Blackwater Lightship," "The Master," and "Long Island"—establishing him as one of Ireland's most important living writers. The Irish author writes about families, sexuality, and emigration with restraint that amplifies emotion. "Brooklyn" became an Oscar-nominated film; his novels about Henry James and the Virgin Mary demonstrate his range. Tóibín's prose achieves intensity through subtraction.