Author Biography | Interview | Books by this Author | Readalikes
Julian Barnes was born in Leicester, England on January 19, 1946. He was educated at the City of London School from 1957 to 1964 and at Magdalen College, Oxford, from which he graduated in modern languages (with honors) in 1968. After graduation, he worked as a lexicographer for the Oxford English Dictionary supplement for three years. In 1977, Barnes began working as a reviewer and literary editor for the New Statesmen and the New Review. From 1979 to 1986 he worked as a television critic, first for the New Statesmen and then for the Observer (London).
Barnes has received several awards and honors for his writing including the Somerset Maugham Award (Metroland 1981), three Booker Prize nominations (Flaubert's Parrot 1984, England, England 1998, Arthur & George 2005); the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize (FP 1985); a Prix Médicis (FP 1986); the E. M. Forster Award (American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, 1986); the Gutenberg Prize (1987); a Grinzane Cavour Prize (Italy, 1988); and the Prix Femina (Talking It Over 1992). Barnes was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1988, Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995 and Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2004. In 1993 he was awarded the Shakespeare Prize by the FVS Foundation and in 2004 won the Austrian State Prize for European Literature.
Among other works, Julian Barnes has written numerous novels, short stories, and essays. He has also translated a book by French author Alphonse Daudet and a collection of German cartoons by Volker Kriegel. His writing has earned him considerable respect as an author who deals with the themes of history, reality, truth and love.
In 2011, his novel The Sense of an Ending earned him his first Man Booker Prize and was nominated for a Costa Book Award.
He has also written four novels under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh, a mysterious, steer-wrestling, gay-bar-bouncing personality.
His wife, literary agent Pat Kavanagh, died in October 2008.
Julian Barnes's website
This bio was last updated on 10/20/2016. In a perfect world, we would like to keep all of BookBrowse's biographies up to date, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of it's simply impossible to do. So, if the date of this bio is not recent, you may wish to do an internet search for a more current source, such as the author's website or social media presence. If you are the author or publisher and would like us to update this biography, send the complete text and we will replace the old with the new.
Martin Amis is the son of another famous British novelist, Kingsley Amis, and although he credits his initial welcome into the publishing world to his father's influence, much has been written about this father and son ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
Arthur & George
Try:
House of Meetings
by Martin Amis
Roberto Ampuero is an internationally bestselling, award-winning author. He has published eleven novels in Spanish and his works have been translated around the world. The Neruda Case is his first novel published in English. ... (more)
If you enjoyed:
The Sense of an Ending
Try:
The Neruda Case
by Roberto Ampuero
We recommend 56 similar authors
Natural History
by Andrea Barrett
A masterful new collection of interconnected stories, from the renowned National Book Award–winning author.
A Minor Chorus
A debut novel from a rising literary star that brings the modern queer and Indigenous experience into sharp relief.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
