Gerard Reidy is an Irish poet and short fiction writer, born near Westport in Co. Mayo in 1958, qualified as a Civil Engineer in 1979 and started writing poetry in 1980. He has been the recipient of a number of Arts Council bursaries and residencies. His first collection of poems, Pictures from a Reservation, appeared in 1998, and received widespread praise for its compelling voice and authentic evocation of the west of Ireland. His second collection, Drifting Under the Moon, appeared just over a decade later. Gerard Reidy's third collection of poems, Before Rain, published by Arlen House, was shortlisted for The Pigott Poetry Prize 2015 in association with Listowel Writers’ Week