Bernie McQuillan is an Irish writer, based in Belfast with her husband and four children, and works in health and social care. Her short stories won the Look North! John Hewitt short story award and are published in the Bournemouth and Leicester writing anthologies. Stories are also published in journals including The New Guard (US), Spontaneity, The Incubator, The Honest Ulsterman, Women's Way (Ireland) and The Birmingham Arts Journal (US). She is an Irish PEN/John Hewitt 2024 Freedom to Write awardee and has received support from The Arts Council of Northern Ireland. The Lobster Pot was shortlisted by Watson Little x Indie Novella Prize, longlisted by the Caledonia Novel Award and highly commended by Irish Novel Fair. Her love of the western counties of Ireland and the outdoors is evident in her writing.