John Connell was published in Granta's New Irish Writing issue, and has also had a story published on Granta.com.

He lives on his family farm, Birchview, in County Longford. Connell studied journalism in Dublin and Sydney and went on to become a new media and storytelling lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney at 22.

His investigative work at the time led to his becoming an Honorary Research Fellow with the Australian Centre for Investigative Journalism and multiple awards including two Walkley wins in the radio field.

He was a producer with ABC Radio National as well as SBS. His novel The Ghost Estate was published by Picador in March 2015.