Elegy for April

William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, adapter of dramas, and screenwriter. A former member of Aosdána, he voluntarily relinquished the financial stipend in 2001 to another, more impoverished, writer. Banville has been publishing books since 1970, when a short story collection appeared, with his first novels emerging soon after. His "Revolutions Trilogy", published between 1976 and 1982, comprises works named after renowned scientists: Doctor Copernicus, Kepler and The Newton Letter. His next work, Mefisto, had a mathematical theme, and, in combination with the three books from the "Revolutions Trilogy," is the fourth book from the "Scientific Tetralogy." Banville's 1989 novel The Book of Evidence began the "Frames Trilogy," dealing with the work of art; it was completed by Ghosts and Athena during the 1990s.