Irene Black has been a psychologist and a teacher and has lived in the USA, Australia and India. She has an MA in South Asian Arts, specializing in the art and architecture of South India.In her novels 'The Moon's Complexion' and 'Darshan: a Journey' her experiences of Indian culture are essential ingredients of her plots. Irene travels widely, particularly in the East. She lists music, reading, photography and art as her main interests outside of writing and her family.She has won numerous national and international prizes for short stories, poetry and articles, including the 2003 National Association of Writers' Groups Annual Best Short Story award, and she was shortlisted for the 2008 Bristol Prize. Some of her short stories are available for download on Kindle, published either by Goldenford or by Untreed Reads. She lives in Surrey. In 2006 one of her prize-winning short stories, 'A Dog's Life' was broadcast on BBC Radio, read by renowned British actor, Bernard Cribbins.All her novels are available in paperback and also as Kindle e-books.Her latest novel, 'Noontide Owls', a Young Adult Fantasy, was published in September 2011. It is an allegorical fable influenced by events following the downfall of the Soviet Union and other dictatorships, but set in an imaginary world of magical creatures and mysterious beings.The novel includes some of her own illustrations.