The Irish novelist and playwright on the positives of ageing, his struggles with depression and a golden age of Irish writingSebastian Barry, 68, is the author of 11 novels and 15 plays. Five of his books have been long- or shortlisted for the Booker prize, and his novels have won numerous awards, including the Costa book of the year (twice) and the Walter Scott prize for historical fiction. He was laureate for Irish fiction from 2018 to 2021. His latest novel, Old God’s Time, is about a retired policeman, Tom Kettle, and his struggles with the legacy of institutional child abuse in Ireland. It has been described as “a tour de force of transcendent power and complexity”. Barry was born in Dublin and lives in a converted rectory in the mountains of County Wicklow, Ireland.Was it good to be back in Ireland with Old God’s Time? Did it feel like coming home?I was in dread of coming home. I had spent two books [Days Without End and A Thousand Moons] in America, quite joyously… a kind of vast holiday. So, yes, it was coming home, but I was a bit… It’s not that I’ve been avoiding the whole strange cosmos of what we have done to children in this country, but I was certainly unable to write this book… until I did. When you get past 60, you do feel a sort of licence finally to write fearlessly about something that essentially is full of fear.Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry is published in paperback by Faber (£9.99). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2024-02-10 18:00:48 UTC ]
Dressed as a 6ft 4in blue insect, Peter Serafinowicz’s superhero is a throwback to the Golden Age of Comic Books – but with everything just a fraction offWhat is it? A superhero series, because Lord knows, we need another one of those at the moment.Why you’ll love it: As superhero series go,... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-08-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Irish writer Sebastian Barry has won the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction for a second time for his American epic Days Without End (Faber). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-06-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Dame Hilary Mantel is to give a series of lectures around the UK which will be broadcast by BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-05-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rebecca Gablé, the bestselling author of historical fiction, returned to Germany’s fiction bestseller list in April at #1 with "The Foreign Queen," the second in her new Otto the Great Series. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Faber has three books shortlisted for the £25,000 Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers should make the most of the “golden age of opportunity” the industry is currently in, Dominique Raccah, publisher and c.e.o. of Sourcebooks has said, while urging publishers to use this opporuntity to redefine their roles. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Tinte & Feder is Amazon Publishing's second German-language imprint, and is to focus on contemporary and historical fiction. First titles out March 7. The post Amazon Publishing’s Newest Imprint Makes Its Debut in Germany appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-02-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Head of venerable press says his sector has important role in the defence of free speech and champions the revival of literary fiction and traditional booksFaber & Faber’s chief executive has called for publishers to oppose crackdowns on free speech and the rise of so-called fake news.... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-02-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sebastian Barry, who has won the Costa Book of the Year for a second time, tells the BBC that he dedicated the prize to his son, but reveals his children don't read his books. Continue reading at BBC World
[ BBC World | 2017-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sebastian Barry becomes the first novelist to win the prestigious Costa Book of the Year prize twice. Continue reading at BBC News
[ BBC News | 2017-02-01 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The dominance of three honours in the UK can be prohibitively expensive for small publishers, and end up discouraging risk-taking on ‘difficult’ authorsCutting-edge British literary fiction risks being undermined by its growing reliance on a handful of powerful book prizes, a leading literary... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-01-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The organisers of the Walter Scott Prize for historical fiction has launched an academy to help find future winners. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-12-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Writers including AS Byatt and Philip Hensher say Commonwealth and British writers face greater struggle to find readers, now ‘dice are loaded’ AS Byatt, Philip Hensher and Susan Hill have joined authors backing Julian Barnes’s call for the Man Booker prize to exclude US writers once again, a... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-11-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Love to read historical fiction? Take our quiz and find out how well you really know the genre. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2016-11-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Penguin Random House has acquired a new novel from Arundhati Roy, The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, for June 2017: her first work of fiction since The God of Small Things (Harper Perennial) won the Booker prize almost 20 years ago. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hercule Poirot and Miss Marples are among golden age sleuths giving new inspiration to a genre tired of alcoholic divorcees and goth hackersForget domestic noir and put down all those books with “Girl” in the title. Crime fiction is turning back the clock to its golden age with a host of books... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The White Horse Bookshop is sponsoring the Richard Jefferies Society Writers’ Prize while the book trade is experiencing a “golden age of nature writing”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Despite the fact that he says, 'I don't consider myself a historical novelist at all,' Simon Mawer wins the £30,000 pound Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. The post With Its ‘Heart in Scotland,’ the Walter Scott Prize Honors Simon Mawer appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-06-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Thomas Mullen has been playing with genres for a long time. He has mixed historical fiction with magical realism, played with the spy novel, and is now mixing a police procedural with a fact-based piece of historical fiction. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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