The Cards of the Gambler

BENEDICT KIELY, novelist, short story writer, journalist, broadcaster and lecturer, was born in Dromore, County Tyrone in 1919 and raised in Omagh. After graduating from University College Dublin in 1943, Kiely settled in Dublin and began what was to be a long and prolific writing career. By 1945 he was a full-time critic for the Irish Independent and had also published his first book, Counties of Contention, a non-fiction account of the partition of Ireland. His first novel, Land Without Stars, was published shortly afterwards and was followed by a steady flow of highly praised novels and short story collections as well as numerous works of non-fiction and two volumes of memoirs. Having lectured and taught widely across Ireland and the United States, Kiely was Literary Editor of the Irish Press, and a regular contributor to the New Yorker and The Irish Times. A recipient of the Award for Literature from the Irish Academy of Letters and member of Aosdána, he passed away in 2007.