Éilís Ní Dhuibhne was born in Dublin. She studied at University College Dublin and the University of Copenhagen and has an M Phil in Medieval Studies and a PhD in Irish Folklore.
Éilís has written several collections of short stories, many novels, books for children, and plays for stage and radio. Her work has won many awards – including the Stewart Parker award for Drama, the Butler Award for Prose (American Association of Irish Studies), several Oireachtas Awards for novels in Irish, and three Bisto Awards for Children’s Literature. Her novel, The Dancers Dancing, was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 2000 and her story collection, The Inland Ice was a New York Times notable book of the year. In 2015, she was awarded the Irish Pen Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Irish Literature.
Éilís worked as a librarian and archivist in the National Library of Ireland for many years. She has also taught Creative Writing at the Irish Writers’ Centre, Listowel Writers’ Week, and Trinity College, where she was writer in residence in 2005. She is currently Writer Fellow at UCD and teaches on the MA in Creative Writing there. She is a member of Aosdana, the Irish Academy of Artists.