Desmond Barry (born 1954) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

author.

Work

Barry was born in Merthyr Tydfil and raised on the town's

Gurnos Gurnos is a community of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. It consists principally of the Gurnos Estate. The population in 2011 5,280. Background The Gurnos Estate is a large housing estate established by Merthyr Tydfil Coun ...

estate. He gained a place at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

. After his degree, he taught English in Italy and then in 1986 moved to the USA where he did a bewildering array of jobs before embarking on a writing programme at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

. While there, he studied under Booker prize–winner Peter Carey, and worked as Carey’s researcher on his novel Jack Maggs. When he began writing his own debut novel, ''The Chivalry of Crime'' (Jonathan Cape, 2001), Barry did exhaustive research on Jesse James, and decided to study Stanislavski's 'system' of acting in order to relate better to the psychological aspects of James and his cohorts. From 1999 to 2001, in the summer months, Barry worked in

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

as part of a non-governmental organisation. ''The Chivalry of Crime'' was voted Best First Novel of the Year by the Western Writers of America and was shortlisted for the 2002 Wales Book of the Year Award. ''A Bloody Good Friday'' (Jonathan Cape, 2002) is set in his home town in 1977. ''Cressida’s Bed'' (Jonathan Cape, 2004) made the 2005 Wales Book of the Year Long List. His shorter prose has appeared in

Granta ''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

, The

Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individ ...

and in the anthologies Wales, Half Welsh (Bloomsbury, 2004), ''London Noir'' (Serpent’s Tail, 2006) and ''Sea Stories'' (National Maritime Museum, 2007). He won a Creative Wales Award in 2006 for the ''Far South Project'', which is ongoing. His play Jetlag was the

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

part of Three Cities, a trilogy of plays written in collaboration with writers from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

and Melbourne and performed in

in 2007 at

Chapter Arts Centre Chapter Arts Centre (often just referred to as Chapter) is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Wales, opened in 1971. Description Chapter hosts films, plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free art gallery, café and bars. There ...

. Barry worked with

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an photographer, Diego Vidar

to produce 'The Falkland Islands, Falkland Diarie

��, an exhibition at the

Wales Millennium Centre Wales Millennium Centre ( cy, Canolfan Mileniwm Cymru) is an arts centre located in the Cardiff Bay area of Cardiff, Wales. The site covers a total area of . Phase 1 of the building was opened during the weekend of the 26–28 November 2004 an ...

in 2007.

Selected publications

''The Chivalry of Crime'' ( Jonathan Cape, 2001)
''A Bloody Good Friday'' (Jonathan Cape, 2002)
''Cressida’s Bed'' (Jonathan Cape, 2004) Contributed to:
''Wales, Half Welsh'' ( Bloomsbury, 2004)
''London Noir'' ( Serpent’s Tail, 2006)
''Sea Stories'' (

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the Unite ...

, 2007)
''Merthyr Writing!'' (Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, 2008) Nonfiction
'' 3:AM Magazine''
''The Circular Church (or books, guns and the report on the blind)'' Words by Des Barry; Photography by Diego Vidart http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/the-circular-church-or-books-guns-and-the-report-on-the-blind/
''The Sauna King.'' Words by Des Barry; Photography by Kristian Helgesen http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/the-sauna-king/
''William Burroughs and the Dreamscapes of the Dalai Lama'' http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/william-burroughs-and-the-dreamscapes-of-the-dalai-lama/

References

Academi (Welsh literature promotio

br /> Wales Arts Internationa

br /> British Counci

br /> Smith, Dai, Top 10 Welsh Alternatives to Dylan Thomas,

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

, 12/2/0

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Des 1954 births Living people Welsh novelists People from Merthyr Tydfil