Frank Delaney was an acclaimed author, broadcaster, and journalist, born and raised in County Tipperary, Ireland. He spent over twenty-five years in England before moving to the United States in 2002. Delaney was a versatile personality, excelling in various fields such as broadcasting, journalism, screenwriting, playwriting, lecturing, and judging literary prizes. He was known for his eloquence, which earned him the title of 'The Most Eloquent Man in the World' from NPR.
Delaney's career as an interviewer lasted over three decades, during which he had the privilege of interviewing more than 3,500 of the world's most important writers. He was a top prize winner and best-seller in various formats, including being a prolific author, a polished broadcaster on both television and radio, a journalist, correspondent, screenwriter, lecturer, playwright, and scholar. He held prestigious positions such as the president of the Samuel Johnson Society, president of the UK Book Trust, and the Literary Director of the Edinburgh Festival. Moreover, he was a judge of many literary prizes, including the Booker.
Delaney created landmark programs and passionate documentaries on various subjects, including Joyce, Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Hemingway, Mailer, Matisse, Van Gogh, and the vitality and organic growth of the English language. His famed BBC show on the way we speak, Word of Mouth, is still heard all over the English-speaking world. His six-part series, The Celts, originally broadcast in forty countries, is still in active DVD distribution. Delaney lectured all over the world, wrote every day, and created a significant podcast series, Re:Joyce, deconstructing, examining, and illuminating James Joyce’s Ulysses line-by-line.
Delaney's writing career included best-selling books such as 'Ireland' and 'Simple Courage,' chosen as one of the top five books of the year by the American Library Association. He published five Novels of Ireland, addressing the twentieth century history of his homeland. His latest novel, 'The Last Storyteller' (Random House, February 7th, 2012), celebrated the mysteries of the ancient oral tradition as the last itinerant storytellers worked their magic in 1950's Ireland. Delaney lived in Litchfield County, Connecticut, with his wife, writer and marketer, Diane Meier.