Tom French

Tom French was born in Kilkenny in 1966. He graduated from National University of Ireland, Galway and the University of Limerick. He received bursaries in literature from An Chomhairle Ealaíon/The Arts Council, Ireland in 1999 and 2009, and his work was awarded the inaugural Ted McNulty Prize. His first collection Touching the Bones (Gallery Press, 2001) was awarded the Forward Prize for Best First Collection, 2002. The Gallery Press has also published The Fire Step (2009), Midnightstown (2014), The Way to Work (2016), The Last Straw (2018, Irish Times/Poetry Now Award shortlist), The Sea Field (2020) and Company (2022), shortlisted for the inaugural Yeats Society Poetry Prize and winner of the 2023 Pigott Poetry Prize in association with Listowel Writers’ Week. Recipient of the O’Shaughnessy Award for Poetry in 2016. Tom’s latest collection The Convent of Mercy is published by The Gallery Press in 2025. He lives with his family close to the coast of County Meath where he earns his living in the County library service.

Tom French’s attendance at West Cork Literary Festival is supported by the Gallery Press as part of their Gallery Goes series of events.