Des Dillon was born and brought up in Coatbridge. He is a poet, short story writer, novelist and dramatist writing for radio, stage, television and film. He was writer in residence at Castlemilk from 1998 to 2000, and has worked as a teacher of English, a creative writing tutor, and a TV scriptwriter. His novels have been translated into Russian and Italian. His novel, Me and Ma Gal, first published in 1995, was selected as one of The List/Scottish Book Trust's 100 Best Scottish Books of all time. His acclaimed play Singin' I'm no a Billy, He's a Tim is probably the most performed play in Scotland in the last five years - in 2011 it will be touring in England with the prestigious Guy Masterton Productions. He now lives in Galloway, and also currently performs stand up comedy.