Ian Duhig was born in London of Irish Catholic parents, and now lives in Leeds. He won the National Poetry Competition twice, in 1987 and 2001. He has published three collections with Bloodaxe, The Bradford Count (1991), which was selected for the New Generation Poets promotion, The Mersey Goldfish (1995), which was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Prize, and Nominies (1998), a Poetry Book Society Special Commendation. He won the Forward Prize for Best Poem in 2001.