Kevin Barry (born 1969) is an Irish writer. He is the author of three collections of short stories and three novels. '' City of Bohane'' was the winner of the 2013 International Dublin Literary Award. ''Beatlebone'' won the 2015 Goldsmiths Prize and is one of seven books by Irish authors nominated for the 2017 International Dublin Literary Award, the world's most valuable annual literary fiction prize for books published in English. His 2019 novel '' Night Boat to Tangier'' 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, 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 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 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." 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 for his short story collection ''There are Little Kingdoms''. In 2011 he released his debut novel '' City of Bohane'', 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 International Dublin Literary Award 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

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 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 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 in October 2010.

Bibliography

Novels

* '' City of Bohane'' (2011) * ''Beatlebone'' (2015) * '' Night Boat to Tangier'' (2019)

Short fiction

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

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

Awards and honours

* 2007: Rooney Prize for Irish Literature (''There are Little Kingdoms'') * 2011:

Costa Book Award The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then ...

, shortlist (''City of Bohane'') * 2012: The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award (''Beer Trip to Llandudno'') * 2012:

Authors' Club First Novel Award The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award is awarded by the Authors' Club to the most promising first novel of the year, written by a British author and published in the UK during the calendar year preceding the year in which the award is presented. ...

(''City of Bohane'') * 2013: International Dublin Literary Award (''City of Bohane'') * 2013: Edge Hill University Short Story Prize (''Dark Lies the Island'') * 2015: Goldsmiths Prize (''Beatlebone'') * 2020: Elected member of Aosdána * 2022: Edge Hill University 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