Sebastian Barry (born 5 July 1955) is an Irish novelist, playwright and poet. He was named Laureate for Irish Fiction, 2019–2021. He is noted for his lyrical literary writing style and is considered one of Ireland's finest writers. Barry's literary career began in poetry before he began writing plays and novels. He has been twice shortlisted for the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...

for his novels '' A Long Long Way'' (2005) and ''

The Secret Scripture ''The Secret Scripture'' is a 2008 novel written by Irish writer Sebastian Barry. Plot summary The main character is an old woman, Roseanne McNulty, who now resides in the Roscommon Regional Mental Hospital. Having been a patient for some fift ...

'' (2008), the latter of which won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year and the

James Tait Black Memorial Prize The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are literary prizes awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, Uni ...

. His 2011 novel, '' On Canaan's Side'', was longlisted for the Booker. In January 2017, Barry was awarded the Costa Book of the Year prize for '' Days Without End'', becoming the first novelist to win the prestigious prize twice.

Early life

Barry was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

. His mother was acclaimed actress Joan O'Hara. He was educated at

Catholic University School Catholic University School ''(C.U.S.)'' is a private (voluntary) secondary school for boys in Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1867 by Bartholomew Woodlock as a preparatory school for the Catholic University of Ireland, the predece ...

and

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, where he read English and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

Work

His academic posts have included Honorary Fellow in Writing at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized into 12 co ...

(1984), Heimbold Visiting Professor at Villanova University (2006) and Writer Fellow at

(1995–1996). Barry started his literary career with the novel ''Macker's Garden'' in 1982. His first play, ''The Pentagonal Dream'', starred

Olwen Fouéré Olwen Fouéré (born March 2, 1954) is an Irish actress and writer/director in theatre, film and visual arts. She was born in Galway, Ireland to Breton parents Yann Fouéré and Marie-Magdeleine Mauger. In 2020, she was listed at number 22 on ...

and debuted in the Damer Theatre in March 1986. This was followed by several books of poetry and a further novel, ''The Engine of Owl-Light'' in 1987, before his career as a playwright began with his first play produced in the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...

, ''Boss Grady's Boys'' in 1988. Barry's maternal great-grandfather, James Dunne, provided the inspiration for the main character in his most internationally known play, ''

The Steward of Christendom ''The Steward of Christendom'' is a 1995 play written by Irish playwright Sebastian Barry. It focuses on Thomas Dunne, loosely based on Barry's great-grandfather, the former chief superintendent of the Dublin Metropolitan Police, now (1932) conf ...

'', which won the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, the Lloyd's Private Banking Playwright of the Year Award and other awards. The main character, named Thomas Dunne in the play, was the chief superintendent of the

Dublin Metropolitan Police The Dublin Metropolitan Police (DMP) was the police force of Dublin, Ireland, from 1836 to 1925, when it was amalgamated into the new Garda Síochána. History 19th century The Dublin city police had been subject to major reforms in 1786 and ...

from 1913 to 1922. He oversaw the area surrounding

Dublin Castle Dublin Castle ( ga, Caisleán Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a former Motte-and-bailey castle and current Irish government complex and conference centre. It was chosen for its position at the highest point of central Dublin. Until 1922 it was the s ...

until the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

takeover on 16 January 1922. One of Barry's grandfathers belonged to the British Army Corps of Royal Engineers. His other grandfather was a painter and a Nationalist, and a devotee of De Valera. Both ''

'' and the novel ''The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty'', are about the dislocations (physical and otherwise) of

loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British C ...

Irish people during the political upheavals of the early 20th century. The title character of the latter work is a young man forced to leave Ireland by his former friends in the aftermath of the

Anglo-Irish War The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mi ...

. His novel '' A Long Long Way'' was shortlisted for the 2005

, and was selected for

's 2007 One City One Book event. The novel tells the story of Willie Dunne, a young recruit to the

Royal Dublin Fusiliers The Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry Regiment of the British Army created in 1881, one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland, with its home depot in Naas. The Regiment was created by the amalgamation of two Brit ...

during the First World War. It brings to life the divided loyalty that many Irish soldiers felt at the time following the

Easter Rising The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with t ...

in 1916. Willie Dunne, son of the fictional Thomas Dunne, first appears as a minor but important character in ''The Steward of Christendom''. Barry's 2008 novel, ''

'' won the

for fiction (announced in August 2009), the oldest such award in the UK, the 2008 Costa Book of the Year (announced 27 January 2009) and in French translation ''Le testament caché'' it won the 2010 Cezam Prix Littéraire Inter CE. It was also a favourite to win the 2008

, narrowly losing out to

Aravind Adiga Aravind Adiga (born 23 October 1974) is an Indian writer and journalist. His debut novel, '' The White Tiger'', won the 2008 Man Booker Prize. Biography Early life and education Aravind Adiga was born in Madras (now Chennai) on 23 October 1974 ...

's ''The White Tiger''. Barry's play ''Andersen's English'', is inspired by children's writer

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consist ...

coming to stay with

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

and his family in the Kent marshes. Directed by Max Stafford-Clark and produced by Out of Joint and

Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...

, the play toured in the UK from 11 February to 8 May 2010. ''Our Lady of Sligo'' was directed in 1998 by Maxwell "Max" Stafford-Clark at the Royal National Theatre co−produced by Out of Joint. '' On Canaan's Side'', Barry's fifth novel, concerns Lily Bere, the sister of the character Willy Dunne from ''A Long Long Way'' and the daughter of the character Thomas Dunne from ''The Steward of Christendom'', as she emigrates to the US. The novel was longlisted for the 2011

and won the 2012 Walter Scott Prize. Barry's next novel, ''The Temporary Gentleman'', tells the story of Jack McNulty—an Irishman whose commission in the British army in WWII was never permanent. Sitting in his lodgings in

Accra, Ghana Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, in 1957, he is writing the story of his life with desperate urgency. Barry's novel '' Days Without End'' followed in 2016, winning The Costa Book Of The Year 2017, The Walter Scott Prize, and The Independent Booksellers' Prize, and being longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2017.

Personal life

Barry lives in

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by ...

with his wife, actor and screenwriter Alison Deegan. In 2001, Barry established his personal and professional archive at the

Harry Ransom Center The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...

. More than sixty boxes of papers document his diverse writing career and range of creative output which includes drawings, poetry, short stories, novels, essays, and scripts. Barry has been awarded honorary degrees from

NUI Galway The University of Galway ( ga, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe) is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. A tertiary education and research institution, the university was awarded the full five QS stars for excellence in 201 ...

(2012), the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's underg ...

and the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and 26 schools of study. The annual income of the institution f ...

. He has an Alumni Award from Trinity College, Dublin. In 2022 he was made an honorary fellow of Trinity College.

List of works

;Poetry *''The Water Colourist'' (Dolmen Press, 1983) *''The Rhetorical Town'' (Dolmen Press, 1985) *''Fanny Hawke Goes to the Mainland Forever'' (Raven Arts Press, 1989) ;Fiction *''Mackers Garden'' (1982) *''The Engine of Owl-Light'' (1987) *''The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty'' (1998) *''

Annie Dunne ''Annie Dunne'' is a novel written by author and playwright Sebastian Barry. First published by Faber and Faber in 2002 it is currently under reprint from Penguin Books.Sebastian ISBN Set in rural Ireland in the late 1950s the novel recounts the ...

'' (2002) *'' A Long Long Way'' (2005) *''

'' (2008) *'' On Canaan's Side'' (2011) *''The Temporary Gentleman'' (2014) *'' Days Without End'' (2016) *''A Thousand Moons'' (2020) *''Old God's Time'' (2023) ;Plays *''The Pentagonal Dream'' (1986) *''Boss Grady's Boys'' (1988) *''Prayers of Sherkin'' (1990) *''White Woman Street'' (1992) *''The Only True HIstory of Lizzie Finn'' (1995) *''

'' (1995) *''Our Lady of Sligo'' (1998) *''Hinterland'' (2002) *''Whistling Psyche'' (2004) *''Fred and Jane'' (2004) *''The Pride of Parnell Street'' (2008) *''Dallas Sweetman'' (2008) *''Tales of Ballycumber'' (2009) *''Andersen's English'' (2010) *''On Blueberry Hill'' (2017)

References

External links

Sebastian Barry Papers
at the

Biography
at the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

Short biography
from the Berlin International Literature Festival {{DEFAULTSORT:Barry, Sebastian 1955 births Living people Academics of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Aosdána members Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize recipients Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Honorary Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Irish dramatists and playwrights Irish male dramatists and playwrights Irish poets James Tait Black Memorial Prize recipients 20th-century Irish novelists 20th-century Irish male writers Irish male novelists 21st-century Irish novelists Irish male poets International Writing Program alumni 21st-century Irish male writers People educated at Catholic University School Walter Scott Prize winners