This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 125.237.170.57 (talk) at 20:35, 13 June 2014 (→References). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 20:35, 13 June 2014 by 125.237.170.57 (talk) (→References)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Nicola Barker" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Nicola Barker | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1966-03-30) 30 March 1966 (age 58) Ely, England |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | British |
| Period | 1994-present |
Nicola Barker (born 30 March 1966) is an English novelist and short story writer.
She was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England.. When she was still young her parents left England and settled in South Africa. As a child she had a bout of bronchial pneumonia which damaged the pineal gland and led to fits. It left her with a sleep disorder.
Typically she writes about damaged or eccentric people in mundane situations, and has a fondness for bleak, isolated settings. Wide Open and Behindlings are set respectively on the Isle of Sheppey and Canvey Island. Her 2004 novel, Clear, is set in London during David Blaine's Above the Below 44 day fast in London in 2003.
Barker's novel Darkmans won the 2008 Hawthornden Prize. Patrick Ness' Guardian review described the book as "phenomenally good" despite it being a "838-page epic with little describable plot, taking place over just a few days and set in...Ashford"
Novels
- Reversed Forecast (1994)
- Small Holdings (1995)
- Wide Open (1998) (winner of the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award award, 2000)
- Five Miles from Outer Hope (2000)
- Behindlings (2002)
- Clear: A Transparent Novel (2004)
- Darkmans (2007) (Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2007)
- Burley Cross Postbox Theft (available as an iPhone app)
- The Yips (2012) (Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, 2012)
- In the Approaches (2014)
Collections of stories
- Love Your Enemies (1993) (winner of the David Higham Prize for Fiction)
- Heading Inland (1996)
- The Three Button Trick: Selected Stories (2001)
Quotation
'There are writers who exist to confirm people's feelings about themselves and to make them feel comforted or not alone. That's the opposite to what I do. I'm presenting people with unacceptable or hostile characters, and my desire is to make them understood.'
References
- The Independent on Sunday, Arts & Books, 16-17, 1 June 2014
- Ness, Patrick: Review: Book of the week The Guardian 5 May 2007
- The Observer Hot List 2010
- Interview in The Observer 29 April 2007
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11272003
External links
- Burley Cross Postbox Theft iPhone App
- Template:Contemporary writers
- Nicola Barker at the Internet Book List
| Recipients of the International Dublin Literary Award | |
|---|---|
|