Damian Barr celebrates animal bravery in wild tales about battles, cruelty and kindness.
Beavers are heroes, as any Narnia fan will tell you. Now the news confirms what we have known since meeting Mr and Mrs Beaver in CS Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Industrious rodents havebuilt six dams upstream of the flood-prone Devonshire village of East Budleigh. These have been slowing the flow of water during the recent storms, reducing pollution and restoring native wildlife, according to a local five-year study.
I’m delighted to join authors I admire on this list from such a prestigious organisation. What an unexpected pleasure it was getting the news while touring with the book on the other side of the world. Thanks to the judges and congratulations to all the other writers on this achievement and to EVERY SINGLE WRITER who sits down and attempts that first novel.
The spring dates for Damian’s book tour have been announced! You can catch him talking about his debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK.
See the ‘Events’ page to find out more details and how you can book.
Damian will be at the New Zealand Festival of the Arts on Wednesday 4th March to read from his debut novel, 'You Will Be Safe Here'. The Literary Salon host, and acclaimed author of his memoir 'Maggie & Me', will discuss South African history, hope, homophobia and the true story that inspired this extraordinary novel.
We live in a world on the edge of change: forced migration, climate chaos and Trump-Brexit all tilt our axis. We need stories now more than ever—to help us understand how others faced other changes so we might not just survive but thrive. Plus ça change?
I'm delighted to announce that The Big Scottish Book Club is returning for a second series! More books on TV!
We want to thank you for all your support and for watching. The first series featured Sara Collins, Janice Galloway, Marian Keyes, Graham Norton, David Nicholls and Patrick Gale among many others and the second series will be equally illustrious. You can still a chance catch Series One on BBC iPlayer for the next few weeks.
As part of the BBC Radio 4 series, From Fact to Fiction, Damian has written the short story 'Summer Son'. As the Scottish Government reviews the difficult situation of students cut off from their parents, Damian writes about the painful and increasingly visible reality of family estrangement.
You can listen to Damian's story, 'Summer Son' on BBC Radio 4, 7th February at 3.45pm.
Damian has been announced on the line-up for the Adelaide Writers' Week 29th Feb - 5th March 2020. He'll be taking part in three events across two days and you'll be able to hear him discuss and read from his debut novel You Will Be Safe Here.
Damian is on this year's schedule for Jaipur Literature Festival 23rd-27th January. He'll be joining a line-up including Elizabeth Gilbert, Lemn Sissay, Simon Armitage and Howard Jacobson.
Damian will talking about his novel You Will Be Safe Here, as well as discussing the "art of the novel" with Leila Slimani, John Lancaster, Howard Jacobson and debutant Avni Doshi. Damian will also be introducing four leading poets at "Performance Poetry: The Word and The Voice".
First Story is a creative-writing charity that places a professional writer into a state secondary school, where they work intensively with students and their teachers to develop creativity, confidence and writing ability. I am supporting them to raise some much-needed funds to support their work in the lead up to Christmas.
I‘m delighted to join so many hardworking and inspiring figures from across publishing on this list. The Bookseller is the Bible for the book industry and it’s great to see so many established and emerging talents recognised for the work they put in and the love they give.
I love a good story where I also learn something new. And Damian Barr’s historical novel – partly set during the Second Boer War in southern Africa – checks all the boxes. Barr deftly points out how the British scorched-earth policies and development of concentration camps helped inspire the atrocities of Nazi Germany – as well as laid the groundwork for apartheid in South Africa. At times, this book felt like two completely different stories – it’s set in 1900, and also in 2010 at an apparent gay conversion therapy camp. But stick with it and you’ll see how it’s all related.
From April this year The National Library of Scotland have been producing a programme of online content, public events, and physical displays under the title of Back to the future: 1979-1989. Damian was invited to write a piece for this retrospective. In his short essay, 'Testing Times', Damian looks back at his experience of going for his first HIV test in the 1980s.
Damian Barr’s debut novel, You Will Be Safe Here, uncovers a hidden colonial history in South Africa and tackles present-day darkness - it was a BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime and has been shortlisted for the Saltire Fiction Book of the Year 2019.
