Barney Norris (born 1987) is an English writer.

Early life

Norris was born in

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, later moving to

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

where he attended

Bishop Wordsworth's School Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' grammar school in Salisbury, Wiltshire for boys aged 11 to 18. The school has been amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2010 was the school with the best results in the Eng ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...

. He studied English at

Keble College, Oxford Keble College () is one of the Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, University Museum a ...

, and creative writing at

Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...

Career

After leaving university, he founded the touring Up in Arms Theatre Company with the director Alice Hamilton, and worked in the theatre as assistant to

Thelma Holt Thelma Holt (born 4 January 1932) is a British theatre producer and former actress. After a successful career as an actress, in partnership with Charles Marowitz, Holt founded the Open Space Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London, which bec ...

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

, Peter Gill, and

Max Stafford-Clark Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart "Max" Stafford-Clark (born 17 March 1941) is a British theatre director. Life and career Stafford-Clark was born in Cambridge, the son of David Stafford-Clark, a physician, and Dorothy Crossley (née Oldfield). H ...

, before becoming a full-time writer. He is a lecturer in creative writing at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, and reviews fiction regularly for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''.

Writing

Norris's early plays were produced by his company Up in Arms, usually on tour and often in partnership with other theatres. Following the success of his first full-length play '' Visitors'', he began to write for other companies, and has since worked with

Salisbury Playhouse Salisbury Playhouse is a theatre in the English city of Salisbury, Wiltshire. Built in 1976, it comprises the 517-seat Main House and the 149-seat Salberg Studio, a rehearsal room, a daytime café, and a community and education space. It is pa ...

, the

Bush Theatre The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. Artistic Directors * Brian McDermott ...

Oxford Playhouse The Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F. G. M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road (Oxford), W ...

, the

Arcola Theatre Arcola Theatre is in the London Borough of Hackney. It presents plays, operas and musicals featuring established and emerging artists. The theatre building, in the former Colourworks paint factory on Ashwin Street, Dalston, houses two studio ...

, the Royal and Derngate,

Out of Joint Out of Joint is a British and international touring theatre company based in London. It specializes in the commissioning and production of new writing, interspersed with occasional revivals and classic productions. It was founded in 1993 by direct ...

, the

Bridge Theatre The Bridge Theatre is a commercial theatre near Tower Bridge in London that opened in October 2017. It was developed by Nick Starr and Nicholas Hytner as the home of the London Theatre Company, which they founded following their tenancy as execu ...

and

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the north bank of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having opened in May 1976, th ...

, among others His first novel, ''Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain'', was published in 2016; he has since published three other novels, including ''Undercurrent'' in 2022, and two books of non-fiction.

Politics

In February 2024, Norris was announced as the

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; ), often known simply as the Green Party or the Greens, is a Green politics, green, Left-wing politics, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ram ...

candidate for the Salisbury constituency at the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

. He has also acted as an ambassador for south-west based homelessness charity Alabare, as a member of the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. Membership of the society is open to "anyon ...

Sustainability Committee and chair of the Scriptwriters Committee, and as a member of the

Writers Guild of Great Britain The Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), established in 1959, is a trade union for professional writers. It is affiliated with both the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds (IAWG). History The un ...

Theatre Negotiating Team.

Awards

* 2014 – Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright for ''Visitors'' * 2015 – Selected as one of the ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

s Progress 1000 * 2016 –

Betty Trask Award The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total at least , with normally one author receiving a larger prize amount ( ...

for ''Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain'' * 2016 – South Bank Sky Arts Times Breakthrough Award for Literature * 2018 – One Book Award for ''Turning For Home'' * 2018 – Elected a

Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature The Royal Society of Literature (RSL) is a learned society founded in 1820 by George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV to "reward literary merit and excite literary talent". A charity that represents the voice of literature in the UK, the ...

* 2019 – Award for Excellence in International Theatre from the

International Theatre Institute The International Theatre Institute ITI is the world’s largest performing arts organisation, founded in 1948 by theatre and dance experts and UNESCO. It has hosted various events through its history, including the Theatre of Nations, an intern ...

* 2023 – Hawthornden Foundation Award

Selected works

Fiction

* ''Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain'' (2016) * ''Turning for Home'' (2018) * ''The Vanishing Hours'' (2019) * ''Undercurrent'' (2022)

Theatre

* '' Visitors'' (2014, Up in Arms Theatre Company,

and tour; 2015, National Theatre Latvia; 2015, Martha's Vineyard; 2023, Watermill Theatre) * ''Eventide'' (2015, Up in Arms, Arcola Theatre and tour) * ''Echo's End'' (2017,

) * ''While We're Here'' (2017, Up in Arms, Bush Theatre,

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

and tour) * ''Nightfall'' (2018,

) * ''We Started to Sing'' (2022, Arcola Theatre) * ''The Band Back Together'' (2024, Arcola Theatre)

Adaptations

* ''The Remains of the Day'' (2019,

Out of Joint Theatre Company Out of Joint is a British and international touring theatre company based in London. It specializes in the commissioning and production of new writing, interspersed with occasional revivals and classic productions. It was founded in 1993 by direct ...

Royal & Derngate Royal & Derngate is a theatre complex in the Cultural Quarter, Northampton, Cultural Quarter of Northampton, England, consisting of the Royal Theatre, Derngate Theatre and the Northampton Filmhouse. The Royal was built by theatre architect Cha ...

and tour) * ''Blood Wedding'' (after Lorca) (2019, LAMDA; 2020, Salisbury Playhouse; 2025,

Omnibus Theatre Omnibus may refer to: Film and television * ''Omnibus'' (film), a 1992 French short comedy film * Omnibus (broadcast), a compilation of Radio or TV episodes * ''Omnibus'' (British TV programme), an arts-based documentary programme * ''Omnibus ...

) * ''Second Best'' (2025,

)

Collaborations

* ''The Wellspring'' with David Owen Norris (2022, Royal & Derngate and tour)

Radio

* ''While We're Here'' (2018, BBC Radio 4) * ''Song and Dance'' (2019, BBC Radio 4) * ''The Queen of the Isle of Wight'' (2021, BBC Radio 4)

Non-fiction

* ''To Bodies Gone: The Theatre of Peter Gill'' (2014) * ''The Wellspring: Conversations with David Owen Norris'' (2018)

References

External links

* , Norris's official website {{DEFAULTSORT:Norris, Barney Date of birth missing (living people) Living people 1987 births 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English educators 21st-century English journalists 21st-century English male writers 21st-century English non-fiction writers 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English politicians Academics of the University of Oxford Alumni of Keble College, Oxford Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London English founders English literary critics English male dramatists and playwrights English male journalists English male novelists English radio writers Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Green Party of England and Wales parliamentary candidates The Guardian journalists Journalists from Oxford Organization founders People educated at Bishop Wordsworth's School Politicians from Chichester Politicians from Oxford Politicians from Salisbury Writers from Sussex Writers from Wiltshire