Kevin Barry
Kevin Barry
Kevin Gerard Barrywas the first Irish republican to be executed by the British since the leaders of the Easter Rising. Barry was sentenced to death for his part in an Irish Volunteers operation which resulted in the deaths of three British soldiers...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionAuthor
CountryIreland
affinity almost critical felt generosity great lived special unified work worked
I have always felt a special affinity with V. S. Pritchett. He worked from the ear, primarily, as I do, and he was an all-rounder, writing short stories, novels, memoir, travelogue, critical biography. He lived to be almost 100, and he never stopped, and his work is unified by a great generosity of spirit.
directly morning rewrite rough three
Very first thing in the morning, I spew some rough genius directly on to the laptop. Then I have coffee and rewrite for three hours.
deter jews plane
I wanted to write about Jews in Montana, so I went there by plane and bus, only to discover that there are no Jews in Montana. It didn't deter me.
finished moses staggering
Frazzled and delirious, as I've just finished a new book of stories. I feel like Moses staggering down the mountainside with the tablets of stone.
book deadly funny hell
Don DeLillo's 'White Noise,' which I read when I was 19. It showed me that a book can be funny as hell and deadly serious.
'City of Bohane' has been optioned for film, and I've finished a first draft of the script.
death gets human men mountain passed truth turn
The fundamental human truth underpinning 'Ox Mountain Death Song' is that men so very often turn into their fathers. The way that everything gets passed down.
cover cub days district early human life local passed remains reporter source time
In my very early days as a journalist, as a cub reporter on a local newspaper, I used to cover the district courthouse in Limerick city - all human life passed through that establishment, and my time there remains a source of inspiration.
along became devout fell fiction home late love nightclub serious seriously short slowly walls work
I was writing fiction in my 20s but in a pretty undisciplined way - late at night, maybe, after I'd peeled myself from the walls of a nightclub and crawled home along the gutters. But I slowly became more serious and more devout in my work, and I fell seriously in love with the short story form.
counting emails few instead pick scratch sentences wake
When you wake up, instead of checking emails on your phone, or counting your retweets, pick up a pen and scratch a few sentences into a notebook.
lives
Libraries are where we learn that we can live our lives through books.
pragmatic side takes useful
I think journalism is useful training for a writer in the way it takes the preciousness out of the pragmatic side of the craft.
happy reader
I like to be happy when I'm writing. If not, then how will the reader manage?
films influenced music
I have been as influenced by music and films as by books.