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Kevin Barry

ケヴィン・バリー

Kevin Barry

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1969-12-01 （Limerick, Ireland）
Nationality
Irish
Languages
English
Residence History
Limerick → Cork → Santa Barbara, California → Barcelona → Liverpool → Sligo (purchased and renovated a former RIC barracks) → West Cork (wrote while living in a caravan)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Editor, Journalist (former)
Active Years
2000-2025
Memberships
Aosdána

Awards

Rooney Prize for Irish Literature
2007
Work: There Are Little Kingdoms
Organization: Trinity College Dublin
Result: Won
Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Short Story Award
2012
Work: Beer Trip to Llandudno
Organization: The Sunday Times
Result: Won
Authors' Club Best First Novel Award
2012
Work: City of Bohane
Organization: Authors' Club
Result: Won
International Dublin Literary Award
2013
Work: City of Bohane
Organization: International Dublin Literary Award
Result: Won
Edge Hill University Short Story Prize
2013
Work: Dark Lies the Island
Organization: Edge Hill University
Result: Won
Goldsmiths Prize
2015
Work: Beatlebone
Organization: Goldsmiths Prize
Result: Won
International Dublin Literary Award
2019
Work: Night Boat to Tangier
Organization: International Dublin Literary Award
Result: Longlisted
Edge Hill University Short Story Prize
2022
Work: That Old Country Music
Organization: Edge Hill University
Result: Won
Walter Scott Prize
2025
Work: The Heart in Winter
Organization: Walter Scott Prize
Result: Shortlisted

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

City of Bohane

2011 Novel

A multi-voiced novel set in the fictional future city of Bohane, where violence and shifting power struggles unfold. Notable for its distinctive vernacular and atmospheric world-building.

ViolencePower strugglesLanguage and vernacular

Beatlebone

2015 Novel

A formally adventurous novel that weaves rock-music sensibilities and cultural references into an experimental narrative; praised for extending the possibilities of the novel form.

MusicMemoryIdentity

Night Boat to Tangier

2019 Novel

A melancholic and darkly comic novel following aging gangsters reunited on a ferry bound for Tangier, confronting past betrayals and enduring regrets.

Past and regretFriendship and betrayalMovement/Travel

The Heart in Winter

2024 Novel

A 2024 novel exploring loneliness and the cooling of human relationships, notable for its historical and emotional depth.

LonelinessHuman relationshipsSeasonal metaphors

Bibliography

  • There Are Little Kingdoms (short story collection, 2007)
  • City of Bohane (novel, 2011)
  • Dark Lies the Island (short story collection, 2012)
  • Beatlebone (novel, 2015)
  • Night Boat to Tangier (novel, 2019)
  • That Old Country Music (short story collection, 2020)
  • The Heart in Winter (novel, 2024)
  • The Cave (play, 2025)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Colloquial, rhythmic narrationBlack humourExperimental, polyphonic structure
Recurring Motifs
Movement and wanderingCoexistence of violence and humourIrish landscapes and vernacular expressions

Legacy

Kevin Barry is an Irish writer acclaimed for his distinctive linguistic sensibility and experimental approach to the novel. Multiple major awards have established him as a significant voice in contemporary English-language literature.

Academic Societies

  • Aosdána

In Popular Culture

  • Critics have compared him to Roddy Doyle and Nick Cave; his musical and colloquial style has prompted references in popular culture.

Quotes

  • I won't be happy until I'm up there, receiving the Nobel Prize.
    Source: Interview (source: Limerick Leader, cited) (2007)

Trivia

  • Had lived in 17 addresses by the age of 36.
  • Purchased and renovated a former RIC barracks in Sligo.
  • Bought a caravan and wrote in it while parked in West Cork.
  • Won the 2013 International Dublin Literary Award for City of Bohane (€100,000 prize).