Julian Barnes, the son of two London French teachers, is a prolific and multi-talented English writer who writes with sparkling economy and poignancy. Three of his books have been nominated for the Booker Prize: Flaubert’s Parrot (1984), England, England (1998), and Arthur & George (2005). He eventually won it with The Sense of an Ending (2011).

Over several decades, he has written journalism and reviews; in particular, he is a celebrated writer about art. Several of his pieces have been collected into anthologies.

During the 1980s he wrote a short story and 4 detective novels under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh, and the protagonist Duffy (one of Britain’s first openly gay sleuths).

Of the many plaudits and honours that he has won, perhaps the most impressive came in 2004 when he was made Commandeur of France’s L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (which is given to those who “significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance”). 

Julian Barnes’ official website is here.

Julian Barnes (c) Urszula Soltys