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Barry Unsworth

バリー・アンスワース

Barī Ansuwāsu

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1930-08-10 （Wingate, County Durham, England）
Died
2012-06-04 （Perugia, Umbria, Italy） age 81
Nationality
British
Languages
English
Residence History
Wingate, County Durham → Manchester (education) → France (taught English for a year) → Greece (lectured at University of Athens) → Turkey (lectured at University of Istanbul) → Perugia, Italy (later life)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Novelist, Lecturer
Active Years
1966-2012
Influenced By
Eudora Welty, William Faulkner, Carson McCullers

Education

University of Manchester
Year of Graduation: 1951
Country: United Kingdom
Specific major not clearly documented

Awards

Heinemann Award
1973
Work: Mooncranker's Gift
Result: win
Booker Prize
1980
Work: Pascali's Island
Category: shortlist
Result: shortlist
Booker Prize
1992
Work: Sacred Hunger
Result: co-winner
Booker Prize
1995
Work: Morality Play
Category: shortlist
Result: shortlist
Booker Prize
2006
Work: The Ruby in Her Navel
Category: longlist
Result: longlist
Walter Scott Prize
2012
Work: The Quality of Mercy
Category: shortlist
Result: shortlist

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Partnership

1966 Novel

Unsworth's first novel, marking the start of his published fiction.

human relationshipsearly-career themes

Pascali's Island

1980 Historical fiction

Set on an unnamed Aegean island during the last years of the Ottoman Empire; inspired by Unsworth's experiences in Greece and Turkey.

decline of empirebetrayalpolitics and the individual
Adaptations
  • [Film] Pascali's Island / James Dearden (1988)

Sacred Hunger

1992 Historical fiction

Set in the mid-18th century, focusing on the Atlantic slave trade and the corrupting force of profit; generally regarded as Unsworth's masterpiece and co-winner of the 1992 Booker Prize.

slaverygreedcolonialism

Morality Play

1995 Historical mystery / Historical fiction

A murder mystery set in 14th-century England about a travelling troupe of players who stage Biblical plays; shortlisted for the 1995 Booker Prize and adapted as the film The Reckoning (2004).

faith and theatremedieval societytruth and justice
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Reckoning / Paul McGuigan (2004)

The Quality of Mercy

2011 Historical fiction

Published as a sequel to Sacred Hunger; one of Unsworth's final novels, released in 2011.

justiceatonementcommercial ethics

Bibliography

  • The Partnership (1966)
  • The Greeks Have a Word For It (1967)
  • The Hide (1970)
  • Mooncranker's Gift (1973)
  • The Big Day (1976)
  • Pascali's Island (1980)
  • The Rage of the Vulture (1982)
  • Stone Virgin (1985)
  • Sugar and Rum (1988)
  • Sacred Hunger (1992)
  • Morality Play (1995)
  • After Hannibal (1996)
  • Losing Nelson (1999)
  • The Songs of the Kings (2002)
  • Crete (2004) (non-fiction)
  • The Ruby in Her Navel (2006)
  • Land of Marvels (2009)
  • The Quality of Mercy (2011)

Adaptations

  • Pascali's Island (film adaptation, 1988)
  • The Reckoning (film adaptation of Morality Play, 2004)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Precise, restrained prose that avoids excessive historical minutiae to capture the spirit of an ageEconomy of language and careful diction
Recurring Motifs
ordinary people on the margins of historypower and greedatonement and justice

Health

  • lung cancer
    晩年（2012年に死去）
    Died of lung cancer in 2012. Continued writing into his later years; death ended his career.

Legacy

Unsworth is regarded as a novelist who revitalized historical fiction to explore universal themes of morality and greed. His co-winning of the 1992 Booker Prize for Sacred Hunger cemented his place in contemporary British literature.

Academic Societies

  • Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL)

Quotes

  • Cynthia Crossen wrote, "Mr. Bradbury invented the future; Mr. Unsworth invented the past."
    Source: The Wall Street Journal (tribute by Cynthia Crossen, 2012) (2012)
  • "The term historical fiction is a blunt instrument in literary criticism. Fiction set in the past should be judged by the same criteria as any other fiction."
    Source: Interviews and essays (various) (2008)

Trivia

  • Co-winner of the Booker Prize in 1992 for Sacred Hunger.
  • Died of lung cancer in 2012; the same day Ray Bradbury died.
  • Lived in Perugia, Italy in later life with his second wife, a Finnish national.