Clive Stephen Barry (2 September 1922 – 25 August 2003) was an Australian novelist and inaugural winner of the

Guardian Fiction Prize The Guardian Fiction Prize was a literary award sponsored by ''The Guardian'' newspaper. Founded in 1965, it recognized one fiction book per year written by a British or Commonwealth writer and published in the United Kingdom. The award ran for 33 ...

, described by the ''

Oxford Companion ''Oxford Companions'' is a book series published by Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates ...

to Australian Literature'' as a "vivid stylist with a capacity for dry humour".

Background

At only sixteen years of age Barry served in World War II – falsifying his date of birth in order to enlist. He was mentioned in despatches and went missing in action before he was reported in ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' to be a POW in Italy. He escaped two years later and crawled barefoot, without food or water, over the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

to Switzerland. His experiences inside the POW would directly influence his 1965 novel '' Crumb Borne''.
Manly Biographical In 1961 he was appointed the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

representative in the Congo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Clive 1922 births 1930s missing person cases 2003 deaths Australian Army personnel of World War II Australian Army soldiers Australian escapees Australian prisoners of war Escapees from Italian detention Formerly missing people Missing in action of World War II Missing person cases in Italy World War II prisoners of war held by Italy Writers from New South Wales

Background

See also

References