Paul Murray

Paul Murray

Paul Murray is a writer and former diplomat.

A biography, From the "Shadow of Dracula: A Life of Bram Stoker", was published by Jonathan Cape in 2004 and as a Pimlico paperback in 2005; it was republished by Fitz-Press in 2016.

His first biography, "A Fantastic Journey: The Life and Literature of Lafcadio Hearn" (Japan Library, 1993; University of Michigan Press, 1997; Kobunsha, Japanese translation, 2000), won the 1995 Koizumi Yakumo Literary Prize in Japan and was awarded a Certificate of Commendation by the Lord Mayor of Dublin.

He has selected and introduced two collections of Hearn's horror writings, "Nightmare-Touch" (Tartarus Press, 2010) and "Kwaidan, Ghost Stories of Lafcadio Hearn" (Little Museum, Dublin, 2015). His play, "Nightmare-Touch: the Dublin Haunting of Lafcadio Hearn", was performed in three venues in Dublin in 2014 and 2015.

He has contributed to numerous books, including "The Dictionary of Irish Biography" (Cambridge University Press, 2009) and journals and has lectured extensively in Europe and Asia.

Murray served as an Irish diplomat from 1972 to 2012. He was Ambassador of Ireland to South Korea (1999-2004) as well as North Korea. He was Ambassador to the OECD and UNESCO in Paris from 2006 to 2012. He was the recipient of the Gold Medal of the Ireland Japan Association in 1999 for services to Ireland-Japan relations.