John Givens studied art and Japanese literature in Kyoto for four years and worked in Tokyo for eight years as a writer and editor. He received an MFA in creative writing from the Iowa Writers' Workshop where he was also a Teaching/Writing Fellow. Givens has published three novels in the United States as well as numerous short stories and poems in a variety of literary journals in the U.S., Japan and Ireland. His non-fiction books include Dublin Bay: Mirror to the City and Irish Walled Towns, both published by The Liffey Press. Givens currently lives in Howth.