Trinity College, Dublin, where she won the Costello Award for English Literature. Her early short stories were published in Ireland in various magazines, and in 1980 she won the prestigious Hennessy Literary Award. Her first novella, HIDDEN SYMPTOMS, was published in 1986 and won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Her first novel, THE BIRDS OF THE INNOCENT WOOD, was published in 1988 and won the Somerset Maugham Award. She has also published REMEMBERING LIGHT AND STONE, NOTHING IS BLACK, ONE BY ONE IN THE DARKNESS, which was shortlisted for the Orange Prize in 1997, and AUTHENTICITY. Deirdre Madden has lived in Germany, France, Italy and London, and is currently living in Dublin and teaching at Trinity. She is married to the Irish poet Harry Clifton. She has written three books for children, SNAKES' ELBOWS, THANKS FOR TELLING ME, EMILY and JASPER AND THE GREEN MARVEL. Her novel MOLLY FOX'S BIRTHDAY was published by Faber in August 2008 and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize 2009. Her latest novel, TIME PRESENT AND TIME PAST, was published by Faber in 2013.
In 2024, Deirdre was awarded a Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction.
