Booker Prize
1 appearances
-
Edition 27 (1995) Winner
Pat Barker
パット・バーカー
Pat Barker
Profile
- Gender
- Female
- Born
- 1943-05-08 （Thornaby-on-Tees, North Riding of Yorkshire, England）
- Nationality
- British
- Languages
- English
- Residence History
- Thornaby-on-Tees (birthplace) → London (has lived)
Career
- Occupations
- Novelist, Writer
- Active Years
- 1970-
- Influenced By
- Angela Carter (mentor/supporter), W. H. R. Rivers (influence through his work on war trauma), First World War poets (Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, etc.)
- Nominations
- Women's Prize for Fiction (shortlisted) - The Silence of the Girls (2019)
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| London School of Economics | International History | — | — | 1962-1965 | United Kingdom |
London School of Economics
International History
Period:
1962-1965
Year of Graduation:
1965
Country:
United Kingdom
Returned home after graduation to nurse her grandmother
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Fawcett Society prize for fiction | Union Street | — | Fawcett Society | 受賞 |
| 1993 | Guardian Fiction Prize | The Eye in the Door | — | The Guardian | 受賞 |
| 1995 | Booker Prize | The Ghost Road | — | Booker Prize | 受賞 |
| 1995 | Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature | — | — | Royal Society of Literature | 選出 |
| 2000 | Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) | — | — | UK Honours | 叙勲 |
| 2024 | Honorary Fellow of the British Academy (FBA) | — | — | British Academy | 選出 |
| 2025 | Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) | — | — | UK Honours | 叙勲 |
Fawcett Society prize for fiction
1983
Work:
Union Street
Organization:
Fawcett Society
Result:
受賞
Guardian Fiction Prize
1993
Work:
The Eye in the Door
Organization:
The Guardian
Result:
受賞
Booker Prize
1995
Work:
The Ghost Road
Organization:
Booker Prize
Result:
受賞
Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
1995
Organization:
Royal Society of Literature
Result:
選出
Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
2000
Organization:
UK Honours
Result:
叙勲
Honorary Fellow of the British Academy (FBA)
2024
Organization:
British Academy
Result:
選出
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE)
2025
Organization:
UK Honours
Result:
叙勲
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Union Street
1982 Realist fiction / linked storiesA set of interlinked stories about working-class women in the north of England, depicting poverty, violence and everyday struggles.
working-class lifewomen's experiencespoverty
Adaptations
- [Film] Stanley & Iris / Martin Ritt (1990)
Regeneration
1991 Historical novel (World War I)Explores the aftermath of World War I through trauma and memory, blending historical figures (poets and doctors) with fiction to examine psychological wounds of war.
traumamemorywar and recovery
The Eye in the Door
1993 Historical novel (World War I)Second volume of the Regeneration Trilogy, dealing with domestic anxieties, psychological unrest and social conflicts left by war.
mental healthsocial divisioneffects of war
The Ghost Road
1995 Historical novel (World War I)Final volume of the Regeneration Trilogy, concluding themes of war's consequences and the fates of its characters, addressing memory and healing.
memory and healinglife and deathintersection of history and fiction
The Silence of the Girls
2018 Historical retelling / classical retellingA retelling of the Iliad from the perspective of women, centering the experiences of women in the Trojan War and re-evaluating the epic.
women's voicesviolence and survivalmemory and retelling of stories
Bibliography
- Union Street (1982)
- Blow Your House Down (1984)
- The Century's Daughter / Liza's England (1986)
- The Man Who Wasn't There (1988)
- Regeneration (1991)
- The Eye in the Door (1993)
- The Ghost Road (1995)
- Another World (1998)
- Border Crossing (2001)
- Double Vision (2003)
- Life Class (2007)
- Toby's Room (2012)
- Noonday (2015)
- The Silence of the Girls (2018)
- The Women of Troy (2021)
- The Voyage Home (2024)
Adaptations
- Film adaptation of Union Street: Stanley & Iris (1990)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- direct, plainspoken stylestraightforward, unvarnished narrative voicetechnique of intersecting history with personal stories
- Recurring Motifs
- memorytraumasurvival and recoveryfemale perspectives
Legacy
Pat Barker achieved wide recognition for the Regeneration Trilogy, securing an important international place as a writer who examines the psychological effects of war and memory. Her frank portrayals of working-class life and women's experiences are also highly regarded.
Academic Societies
- Royal Society of Literature
- British Academy (Honorary Fellow)
Archives
- Works and related materials likely held in modern British literature collections such as the British Library
In Popular Culture
- The Regeneration Trilogy is frequently cited in World War I studies and education
Quotes
-
“I think the whole British psyche is suffering from the contradiction you see in Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, where the war is both terrible and never to be repeated and at the same time experiences derived from it are given enormous value.”
Source: The Guardian (interview) (1993) -
“Chilling, powerful, audacious . . . A searing twist on The Iliad.”
Source: The Times (review) (2018)
Trivia
- Born Patricia Mary W. Drake.
- Her first three early novels were never published.
- Widowed in 2009; daughter Anna Barker Ralph is a novelist.
- Named a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2025.