Bernard MacLaverty (born 14 September 1942) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

fiction writer and novelist. His novels include '' Cal'' and ''

Grace Notes {{italic title ''Grace Notes'' is a novel by Bernard MacLaverty, first published in 1997. It was was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize for Fiction. Plot summary The book centers around the postpartum depression of its female pro ...

''. He has written five books of short stories.

Biography

''MacLaverty'' was born in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, Northern Ireland, and educated at Holy Family Primary School in the Duncairn district and then at

St Malachy's College St Malachy's College, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the oldest Catholic diocesan college in Ulster. The college's alumni and students are known as Malachians. History The college, founded by Bishop William Crolly, opened on the feast of Sai ...

. He worked as a medical laboratory technician and was a mature student at

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. He lived there until 1975, when he moved to Scotland with his wife, Madeline, and four children (Ciara, Claire, John, and Jude). He initially lived in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and then the

Isle of Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's capital i ...

before settling in the

West End of Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated p ...

. He was Writer-in-Residence at the Universities of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Liverpool John Moores,

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

and Iowa State. He was the Ireland Fund Artist-in-Residence in the Celtic Studies Department of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto in October 2007.

Work

MacLaverty's 1980 novel ''Lamb'' is about faith, relationships and, ultimately, love; ''Cal'' is an examination of love in the midst of violence. ''

'', which was shortlisted for the 1997 Booker Prize, is about the conflict between a desire to compose and motherhood. ''The Anatomy School'' is a comedic coming-of-age novel. He has also written five acclaimed collections of short stories, most of which are in his ''Collected Stories'' (Cape, 2013). MacLaverty wrote a screenplay for ''Cal'' in 1984;

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

and John Lynch starred and

Mark Knopfler Mark Freuder Knopfler (born 12 August 1949) is a British singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Born in Scotland and raised in England, he was the lead guitarist, singer and songwriter of the rock band Dire Straits. He pursued a s ...

composed the film soundtrack. He also adapted ''Lamb'' for the screen;

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and two Tony Awards. In 2020, he was placed 7th on ''The I ...

and Hugh O'Conor starred and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

composed the soundtrack. MacLaverty has written versions of his fiction for other media – radio plays, television plays, screenplays and libretti. In 2003 he wrote and directed a short film ''Bye-Child'' (BAFTA-nominated for "Best Short Film") and more recently wrote libretti for Scottish Opera's Five:15 series ''The King’s Conjecture'', with music by Gareth Williams, and ''The Letter'' with music by Vitaly Khodosh. For Scottish Opera in 2012, and again with music by Gareth Williams, he wrote ''The Elephant Angel'', an opera for schools, which toured Scotland and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

List of published works

Novels: * ''Lamb'', Cape / Blackstaff Press (1980) * '' Cal'', Cape / Blackstaff Press (1983) * ''

'', Cape / Blackstaff Press (1997) * ''The Anatomy School'', Cape / Blackstaff Press (2001) * ''Midwinter Break: A Novel'', W. W. Norton & Company (2017) Short story collections: * ''Secrets & Other Stories'', Blackstaff Press (1977) * ''A Time to Dance & Other Stories'', Cape / Blackstaff Press (1982) * ''The Great Profundo & Other Stories'', Cape / Blackstaff Press (1987) * ''Walking the Dog & Other Stories'', Cape / Blackstaff Press (1994) * ''Matters of Life & Death & Other Stories'', Cape (2006) * ''Collected Stories'', Cape (2013) * ''Blank Pages and Other Stories'', Cape (2021)

References

External links

Official website

Bernard MacLaverty
at

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association of artists. It was created in 1981 on the initiative of a group of writers with support from the country's Arts Council. Membership, which is by invitation from current member ...

*
Bernard MacLaverty
at British Council, Literature site
"Award-winning author to teach Creative Writing at Aberdeen"
University of Abberdeen, 27 October 2006
Writing page
BBC Northern Ireland {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclaverty, Bernard 1942 births Living people Academics of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of Queen's University Belfast Aosdána members Male novelists from Northern Ireland People associated with Glasgow People educated at St Malachy's College Writers from Belfast Scottish novelists Scottish short story writers Male short story writers from Northern Ireland 21st-century writers from Northern Ireland

Biography

Work

List of published works

See also

References

Further reading

External links