A three minute showreel of Damian Barr’s work in tv, radio and print.

Award-winning writer & broadcaster

Stories are for everybody. And everybody has a story.

I’m a writer, broadcaster and host.

My life is all about writing, telling and celebrating stories - especially those that are overlooked or hidden.  I do this in my own writing, on radio and telly and at live events. The Financial Times described me as a ‘literary impresario’.  The Guardian says I’m ‘one of the most connected men in publishing’.  GQ listed me as one of the 100 Most Connected Men in Britain. I’m honoured to be included in The Bookseller 150. From 2008-2023 I hosted my own Literary Salon celebrating new work from established and emerging writers in groundbreaking live events and innovative podcasts.

‘Maggie & Me’ is my memoir of coming of age and coming out in 1980s Scotland – a Radio 4 Book of the Week and Sunday Times Memoir of the Year. I am adapting it for the National Theatre of Scotland now, co-writing with James Ley and directed by Suba Das. ‘You Will Be Safe Here’ is my novel of hidden histories in South Africa, linking the Boer War with a dark contemporary secret there – a Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and Book of the Year in the Observer, Guardian and Financial Times.  I’ve contributed to many collections, including ‘Common People’, and written plays and essays for radio. I’m (always) working on my next book and recently moved from Bloomsbury to Canongate.

As an interviewer, I’ve talked song-writing with Dolly Parton, survival with Rose McGowan and the politics of empathy with Nicola Sturgeon. I do interviews and host events at festivals including Hay, Edinburgh and Cheltenham. More than anything, I love listening.

I’m a regular on Radio 4 where, for a time, I hosted Front Row - Dolly Parton, Javier Marías and Brad Pitt were among my favourite guests. In 2021, I hosted my own series for BBC Radio called ‘Guide Books’, which considered how books might help us with the messy business of living. Our themes included The Body and Grief and our guests included Sarah Perry and Helen Macdonald.  It was a pleasure to discuss books on radio in a much more intimate way.  That series was a ‘pick’ in the Radio Times, Guardian and Telegraph. In 2023 I hosted a three-part series for Radio 4 called ‘Whose Truth Is It Anyway?’ which takes a radical look at the truths we (don’t) tell in memoir, fiction and autofiction. You can find all my series and documentaries on BBC Sounds and iPlayer.

In 2019, I brought books back to telly as the creator and host of ‘The Big Scottish Book Club’ on BBC Scotland and iPlayer celebrating writers from throughout Scotland, across the UK and around the world. Guests include Neil Gaiman, Lemn Sissay and Maggie O’Farrell. That show, produced by IWC, is now syndicated worldwide and our fifth series goes out in a series of specials throughout 2023. During lockdown, I also hosted a series called ‘Shelf Isolation’ asking famous faces including Alan Cumming and Lorraine Kelly to share the books, music and activities that were helping them through lockdown. In 2022 I wrote and presented a landmark documentary about Sir Walter Scott for his 250th birthday.

45DHB_0606LitSalonBrighton281017.JPG

From 2008-2023, I ran my own Literary Salon which hosted events online and across the UK and around the world celebrating established and emerging writers. Guests included: David Nicholls, Yaa Gyasi, Garth Greenwell, Armistead Maupin, Tracey Thorn and hundreds more.  Truly, hundreds. Salons were always intimate and revealing. Events were fronted by me and a team of Guest Hosts including Alexandra Heminsley, Sam Baker and Sathnam Sanghera. We popped-up all over the country and around the world partnering with brilliant brands like Corney & Barrow and the National Trust and great venues like the Ace in New York or the Savoy in London. Working with British Airways, the #litsalon podcast still plays in-flight. In 2018, we started celebrating a different Indie Bookshop of the Month every month. We were featured in The Times, Telegraph, Sunday Times, Guardian, Evening Standard, New York Times, Elle and Vanity Fair. This was all thanks to the passionate support of our brilliant and beloved community and our dynamic team. 2023 marked the final fabulous chapter of my Salon, after fifteen glorious years.

Since my first piece ran in the Guardian in 1996, I’ve written for national newspapers and magazines. I’ve been a columnist for the Times, Sunday Times and Big Issue. Highlights include: revisiting New Orleans a year after Katrina to discover why one hotel survived while all around perished, getting wet in Venice to understand why it’s really sinking and helping to fly a tiny plane around New Zealand for a sky safari.  In 2016 I was Highly Commended by BSME as Columnist of the Year for my Big Issue column which covered topics as varied as fuel poverty and misogyny in politics. As Drinks Critic for the Sunday Times, I was the magazine's much-loved BarrFly from 2014. For a decade I was Literary Editor of Soho House. I used to write a column about books and places for High Life magazine called 'Novel Destinations’.

Books are at the heart of my life and I’m lucky enough to make my living telling stories. In 2020 I completed my PhD in Creative Writing at Lancaster and was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (FRSL). In 2021 I was named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE). I share stories to help us better understand ourselves and others, to ask better questions, not provide easy answers.

damian-barr-awards