Kevin Barry (born 1969) 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 ...

writer. He is the author of three collections of short stories and three novels. ''

City of Bohane ''City of Bohane'' is the debut novel by Ireland's Kevin Barry. The book is set in the year 2053, in a world with minimal technology. It received largely positive reviews and won the 2013 International Dublin Literary Award. Synopsis ''City ...

'' was the winner of the 2013

International Dublin Literary Award The International Dublin Literary Award ( ga, Duais Liteartha Idirnáisiúnta Bhaile Átha Chliath), established as the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1996, is presented each year for a novel written or translated into English. ...

. ''Beatlebone'' won the 2015

Goldsmiths Prize The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the ''New Statesman.'' It is awarded annually to a piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of ...

and is one of seven books by Irish authors nominated for the 2017

, the world's most valuable annual literary fiction prize for books published in English. His 2019 novel ''

Night Boat to Tangier ''Night Boat to Tangier'' is a 2019 novel by Kevin Barry. It is his third novel and was published on 20 June 2019 by the Edinburgh-based publisher Canongate Books. It was longlisted for the 2019 Booker Prize. Plot The novel is set over a 24-h ...

'' was longlisted for the

2019 Booker Prize The 2019 Booker Prize, Booker Prize for Fiction was announced on 14 October 2019. The Booker longlist of 13 books was announced on 23 July, and was narrowed down to a shortlist of six on 3 September. The Prize was awarded jointly to Margaret Atwoo ...

. Barry is also an editor of ''Winter Papers'', an arts and culture annual.

Biography

Born in

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

, Barry spent much of his youth travelling, living in 17 addresses by the time he was 36. He lived variously in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

, Santa Barbara, Barcelona, and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

before settling in

Sligo Sligo ( ; ga, Sligeach , meaning 'abounding in shells') is a coastal seaport and the county town of County Sligo, Ireland, within the western province of Connacht. With a population of approximately 20,000 in 2016, it is the List of urban areas ...

, purchasing and renovating a run-down

Royal Irish Constabulary The Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC, ga, Constáblacht Ríoga na hÉireann; simply called the Irish Constabulary 1836–67) was the police force in Ireland from 1822 until 1922, when all of the country was part of the United Kingdom. A separate ...

barracks. His decision to settle down was driven primarily by the increasing difficulty in moving large quantities of books from house to house. In Cork Barry worked as a freelance journalist, contributing a regular column to the

Irish Examiner The ''Irish Examiner'', formerly ''The Cork Examiner'' and then ''The Examiner'', is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country. ...

. Keen to become a writer, he purchased a caravan and parked it in a field in West Cork, spending the next six months writing what he described as a "terrible novel'. Barry has described himself as "a raving

egomania Egomania is a psychiatric term used to describe excessive preoccupation with one's ego, identity or selfdictionary.com and applies the same preoccupation to anyone who follows one’s own ungoverned impulses, is possessed by delusions of personal ...

c", one of those "monstrous creatures who are composed 99 per cent of sheer, unadulterated ego" and "hugely insecure and desperate to be loved and I want my reader to adore me, to a disturbing, stalkerish degree." He is highly ambitious, saying: "I won't be happy until I'm up there, receiving the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

." He confessed to "haunting bookshops and hiding" to "spy on the short fiction section and see if anyone's tempted by my sweet bait" and has also placed copies of his own work in front of books by other "upcoming" authors. In 2007 he won the

Rooney Prize for Irish Literature The Rooney Prize for Irish Literature was created in 1976 by the Irish American businessman Dan Rooney, owner and chairman of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers franchise and former US Ambassador to Ireland. The prize is awarded to Irish writers aged ...

for his short story collection ''There are Little Kingdoms''. In 2011 he released his debut novel ''

'', which was followed in 2012 by the short story collection ''

Dark Lies the Island ''Dark Lies the Island'' is the second short story collection by Irish writer Kevin Barry. His previous short story collection, ''There Are Little Kingdoms'', won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. It was shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor I ...

''. Barry won the

for his novel ''City of Bohane'' in 2013. When ''City of Bohane'' was shortlisted for the award in April 2013, Barry said: "Anything that keeps a book in the spotlight, and keeps people talking about books is good. ..And a prize with money attached to it has a lot of prestige." He received €100,000 for winning the award. The prize jury included

Salim Bachi Salim Bachi (born 1971, Algiers) is an Algerian novelist who grew up in Annaba, eastern Algeria. After a one-year stay in Paris in 1995, he returned there in 1997 to study literature. A pensioner at the French Academy in Rome in 2005, he now lives ...

, Krista Kaer, Patrick McCabe,

Kamila Shamsie Kamila Shamsie FRSL (born 13 August 1973) is a Pakistani and British writer and novelist who is best known for her award-winning novel '' Home Fire'' (2017). Named on ''Granta'' magazine's list of 20 best young British writers, Shamsie has bee ...

Clive Sinclair Sir Clive Marles Sinclair (30 July 1940 – 16 September 2021) was an English entrepreneur and inventor, best known for being a pioneer in the computing industry, and also as the founder of several companies that developed consumer electronics ...

and

Eugene R. Sullivan Eugene Raymond Sullivan (born August 2, 1941) is an American lawyer who serves as a Senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. In 1990, President George H. W. Bush named him the chief judge. When not recalled to a ...

Lord Mayor of Dublin The Lord Mayor of Dublin ( ga, Ardmhéara Bhaile Átha Cliath) is the honorary title of the chairperson ( ga, Cathaoirleach, links=no ) of Dublin City Council which is the local government body for the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The ...

Naoise Ó Muirí Naoise Ó Muirí (born 15 September 1972) is an Irish Fine Gael politician who has served as a Dublin City Councillor since June 2004. He previously served as Lord Mayor of Dublin from 2012 to 2013. Ó Muirí studied at the NUI Galway. He is a ...

said he was "thrilled" that someone of "such immense talent houldtake home this year's award". Ó Muirí also said the characters were "flamboyant and malevolent, speaking in a vernacular like no other." In November, 2015 ''Beatlebone'' won the £10,000 Goldsmith’s Prize that aims to reward British and Irish fiction that breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form.Gatti, Tom (11 November 2015
''Kevin Barry wins the Goldsmiths Prize 2015 for his novel Beatlebone''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

The Gazette The Gazette (stylized as the GazettE), formerly known as , is a Japanese visual kei Rock music, rock band, formed in Kanagawa Prefecture, Kanagawa in early 2002.''Shoxx'' Vol 106 June 2007 pg 40-45 The band is currently signed to Sony Music Recor ...

'' described him as: "If

Roddy Doyle Roddy Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ma ...

and

Nick Cave Nicholas Edward Cave (born 22 September 1957) is an Australian singer, songwriter, poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, composer and occasional actor. Known for his baritone voice and for fronting the rock band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ca ...

could procreate, the result would be something like Kevin Barry." Barry was the

Ireland Fund Artist-in-Residence Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the seco ...

in the Celtic Studies Department of St. Michael's College at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

in October 2010.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''

'' (2011) * ''Beatlebone'' (2015) * ''

'' (2019)

Short fiction

;Collections * ''There are Little Kingdoms'' (2007) * ''

'' (2012) * ''That Old Country Music'' (2020) ;Stories

Awards and honours

* 2007:

(''There are Little Kingdoms'') * 2011: Costa Book Award, shortlist (''City of Bohane'') * 2012: The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award (''Beer Trip to Llandudno'') * 2012: Authors' Club First Novel Award (''City of Bohane'') * 2013:

(''City of Bohane'') * 2013:

Edge Hill University Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male st ...

Short Story Prize (''Dark Lies the Island'') * 2015:

(''Beatlebone'') * 2020: Elected member of

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 ...

* 2022:

Short Story Prize (''That Old Country Music'')

References

External links

Book review of ''There are Little Kingdoms''

review of ''Dark Lies the Island''
New York Journal of Books
Short biography
from the Berlin International Literature Festival {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Kevin 1969 births Living people 21st-century Irish novelists 21st-century Irish male writers 21st-century Irish short story writers Irish male novelists Irish male short story writers Writers from Limerick (city) The New Yorker people Goldsmiths Prize winners