Sean O'Brien is a poet, critic, playwright, broadcaster, anthologist and editor. He is Professor of Poetry at Sheffield Hallam University. His theatre work includes the political tragedy Laughter When We're Dead (Live Theatre, Newcastle, 2000); a monologue, My Last Barmaid (Live Theatre, Newcastle, 2001); a jazz music theatre piece, Downriver (cowritten with Keith Morris, Newcastle Playhouse, 2001); a second radio play, The Black Path, broadcast on Radio 3 (cowritten with Julia Darling, 2002); and his verse version of Aristophanes' The Birds premiered at the Royal National Theatre in July 2002. He has written five collections of poetry: The Indoor Park (1983); The Frighteners (1987); HMS Glasshouse (1991); Ghost Train (winner of the Forward Prize, 1995); and Downriver (Poetry Book Society recommendation and winner of the Forward Prize, 2001). His other awards include the Somerset Maugham Award, the Cholmondeley Award and the E. M. Forster Award. Cousin Coat: Selected Poems, 1976-2001 was published in 2002. He is poetry critic of the Sunday Times, he contributes to the Times Literary Supplement and the Guardian, and is editor of a magazine called The Devil.