Mac Lochlainn was born in Belfast in 1966. He writes in both Irish and English and his bi-lingual collections have received national and international awards. He has been writer in residence at Queens University, Belfast and the University of Ulster. He has been a fellow at the University of Massuchussetts, Boston. Mac Lochlainn also works as a broadcaster and presenter and has presented award winning documentaries on minority languages, poetry and music for BBC and TG4. Mac Lochlainn’s city is his muse- his poetry (and it’s unique approach to translation) explores issues of bi-lingualism and ‘fragmented’ identites in a modern Belfast that is emerging from the dark militarised era of ‘Troubles’, a city that is trying to find it’s place in an unstable European context.

His work looks at the social consequences of years of violence on his home city and asks questions about it’s past and future in the era of ‘Brexit’ uncertainties without a sitting devolved Assembly. Selections of Mac Lochlainn’s poems have been translated into several European languages. He has been an ambassador for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. He has worked and toured with many organisations including: Irish embassies, The British Council, and Literature Across Frontiers.