Lorraine Mannion is Irish (native language: English) and has been living in Berlin since 1989. She studied Interpreting and Translating (German, French, English, minoring in Italian) at the University of Ulster (Coleraine) and the University of East Anglia (England).

After working in industry as a teacher and translator for several years, she returned to university (Freie Universität Berlin) to study English Philology, Philosophy and North American Studies.

Her current research interests include narratology, memory and their relationship to public space in border regions. Her interest in this subject was stimulated while undertaking a workshop with international architects on the subject of "public space" in Beirut, Lebanon, following the Israeli-Lebanese conflict of 2006.