Dennis Lehane is the author of A Drink Before the War, Darkness, Take My Hand, Sacred, Gone Baby Gone, Prayers for Rain, Mystic River, The Given Day, and Shutter Island. Mystic River was a finalist for the PEN/Winship Award and won the Anthony Award and the Barry Award for Best Novel, as well as the Massachusetts Book Award in Fiction. Before becoming a full-time writer, Lehane worked as a counselor with abused children, waited tables, parked cars, drove limos, worked in bookstores, and loaded tractor trailers. He has written episodes for the acclaimed series The Wire. [extracted from 2010 festival brochure]
