Mary Morrissy is the author of three novels, Mother of Pearl, The Pretender, and The Rising of Bella Casey, as well as two story collections, A Lazy Eye and Prosperity Drive. She was awarded a Lannan Foundation Award and was elected to Aosdána, Ireland’s academy of writers and artists. Born in Dublin, she studied journalism at the Dublin Institute of Technology and has worked as a journalist and teacher. She serves as the associate director of creative writing at University College Cork.