Gerry Smyth is an academic, musician, actor and playwright from Dublin, Ireland. He works in the Department of English at Liverpool John Moores University, where he is Professor of Irish Cultural History. His early publications were mainly in the field of Irish literature, although since 2002 he has also written widely on the subject of Irish music. Smyth was an early advocate of postcolonial criticism in Irish Studies, although more recently he has been keen to emphasise the autobiographical dimension of critical discourse. 'Decolonisation and Criticism' won the American Conference for Irish Studies' Michael J. Durkan Prize for best book published in literary criticism, arts criticism or cultural studies in 1999. 'Beautiful Day: Forty Years of Irish Rock' (co-authored with Sean Campbell) was launched in the Clarence Hotel in Dublin in September 2005. 'Our House: The Representation of Domestic Space in Contemporary Culture' (co-edited with Jo Croft) was launched at the Tate Liverpool in September 2006. His collection of critical essays 'Music in Irish Cultural History' also won the Michael J. Durkan Prize (2009). Smyth's latest book is 'Celtic Tiger Blues: Music and Modern Irish Identity' (Routledge, 2016), which includes analyses of work by James Joyce, the Pogues, Bernard MacLaverty, The Waterboys, Tim Robinson, and Augusta Holmes.