Micheál Ó Conghaile was born in Galway in 1962. A prolific short story writer, playwright and novelist, Ó Conghaile is a recipient of the Hennessy Literary Award, the Hennessy Young Irish Writer of the Year Award, and has been shortlisted for The Irish Times Literature Awards. His third collection of short stories, An Fear nach nDéanann Gáire, (The Man Who Never Laughs) was published in July 2003 to widespread acclaim. His work has been translated into Romanian, Croatian, Albanian, German and English.

Micheál's story 'The Closeted Pensioner' appears in Elsewhere.